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THE SONG AT MID-NIGHT 



THE SONG 
AT MID-NIGHT 

/ 
POEMS Bt/ 

MARY M. ADAMS 

Author of'' The Choir Visible;' 
''Sonnets and Songs,'' etc. 




ARTIetV€RITAni r| 

Boston: Richard G. Badger 

The Gorham Press 



1903 



COPYRIGHT 1903 BY RICHARD G. BADGER 



All Rights Reser'ved 



Y^ 



oob 



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LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
Two Copies Received 
MAY 13 1904 
Oeoyrleht Entry ; 

CLASS OL XXo.no. 

COPY B 



Printed at 

"The Gorham Press 

Boston, U. S. A. 



In Memoriam 



Q LOVE, if my least song reflected thee 

It were worth while to sing; or if, when done, 
Thine eyes, more welcome than the sun. 
Could look upon it and bring back to me 
One moment of the old time ecstasy 

I knew, when thy approving smile was won, 
Oh how my spirit must to gladness run. 
My heart hear once again life's melody! 

Ah Grief be kind! Bring thou to me one gift 

That shall so lessen thine own pain, it may 

My soul, and all it strives to do, uplift 
To clearer vision of his perfect Day; 

Then lofty purpose, high and holy aim, 

With something of himself, my lines may claim. 



Contents 

Odes 



The Choir Visible 


17 


Ode to Poetry 


20 


Lincoln at Gettysburg 


38 


The Violet 


42 


A Song of Springtime 


45 


Commencement Ode 


- 46 


Hymn to Wisdom 


55 


Invocatory Ode 


57 


Wedding Hymn 


59 


The Message of the Bead 


61 


Salutamus 


66 


Lyrics 




Redeeming Love 


- 69 


Prayer _ _ - 


70 


Trust 


71 


Communion 


72 


Worthy T'hy Gospel 


73 


The Scholar s Strength 


74 


Cobble and Crystal 


74 


Where Poppies Grow 


75 


Hymn for Forefather s Day 


- 76 



Dedication Hymn 


- 


77 


Easter Hymn 




7S 


Thanksgiving 


- 


- 7S 


Light at Eventide 


- 


8i 


Communion with Christ 


- 


8i 


Love and Work 


- 


82 


The Christmas Gift 


- 


82 


Mizpah 


- 


- S3 


Scars 


- 


- S3 


'There is a Star 


- 


- 84 


Funeral Hymn for a Distinguished 


Citizen 8^ 


Gethsemane 


- 


- Ss 


"The Bird in the Belfry 


- 


86 


Serenity 


- 


86 


The Bard's Epitaph 


- 


- sr 


Russia 


- 


88 


Dead Love 


_ 


- 8g 


Earth's Requital 


- 


- 89 


Cradle Song 


- 


go 


Songs Without Words 


- 


gi 


Labor s Gift 


- 


gi 


Written in a Copy of the 


Rubaiyat 


92 


My Lost Lyric 


- 


g2 


Mid- Winter Winds 


- 


93 


T'he New Tear 


- 


93 


Madison at Sunset 


- 


94 


Beauty in Nature 


- 


94 


The Color Line 


- 


- g6 



Sonnets 

Man and Nature - - gg 

Cecil Rhodes _ _ _ joo 

Dawn _ _ - loi 

To the Old Tear - - 102 

Easter _ _ _ - loj 

Winter _ _ - - 104 

"To Cynthia _ _ - 705 

The Message of the Rose - - 10^ 

Evening on Lake Monona - - 106 

Mount Desert _ _ _ 106 

Dante _ _ _ - loy 

The Birthday of Burns - - loy 

Beside a Poefs Grave - - 108 

Oliver Wendell Holmes - - 108 

Wordsworth _ _ _ log 

Keats - - - - log 

Washington - - -no 

Lincoln _ _ _ no 

Lucius Fair child - - 1 1 1 

Horace Howard Furness - - in 

One Whose ^ Price is Above Rubies' - 112 

A Human Hand - - 112 

To the Morning Glory - - iij 

In Absence - - - iij 

Silence - - - -114 

To a Mother _ - - //^ 



^0 a Friend 


- 


^^5 


To the Author of ''Songs 


• of Day and 




Night'' 


- 


115 


To a Beautiful Child 


- 


116 


The Promise 


- 


116 


To the Treacher on His Birthday 


117 


The Educator 


- 


J17 


Baccalaureate Sunday 


- 


118 


Emperor and Martyr 


- 


118 


Washington's Birthday 


- 


119 


The Artist 


- 


iig 


A Golden Wedding 


- 


120 


Loves Youth 


- 


120 


Love's Power 


- 


12 z 


Where Love is there is Harmony 


121 


'To the Madonna 


- 


122 


Forgiveness 


- 


123 


Lincoln 


- 


123 


Love's Gift 


- 


124 


To Shakespeare's Mother 


124 


Antigone 


- 


125 


Cleopatra 


- 


125 


Virgilia Awaiting Coriolanus 


126 


Othello 


- 


126 


The Seraph's Song 


- 


127 


Hamlet 


- 


127 


Brutus Before Lucius 


- 


128 


Falstaff 


_ 


128 



THE SONG AT MID-NIGHT 

T^HE solemn hush of mid-night, 
^ Folds the whole world in sleep, 
While I alone with darkness 

A weary vigil keep. 
When lo! from out the silence 

A burst of joyous sound. 
Quickens my saddened senses 

With melody profound. 

A bird from his near tree-top, 

Unmindful of the gloom, 
Fills the still night with music 

Sweet as the sun at noon. 
'Tis for a moment only, 

And then the song is o'er. 
But my list'ning soul had whispered 

A prayer undreamed before. 

I caught, O happy warbler, 

The secret of the lay 
That sings itself in darkness. 

Clear as at bright mid-day; 
I learned in that brief moment, 

That song has truer ring 
If through the gloom of mid-night 

'T is given the power to sing. 



ODES 



THE CHOIR VISIBLE 

'T^HE choir invisible we praise; 

But I would join the choir I see, 
Of noble souls, who, glad and free, 

The living of the world upraise. 

Who live to foster all that's right. 

To quicken all that's great and high. 
To hearken to each feeble cry. 

And strive to make earth's darkness bright. 

Who feel the stir of kinship true 

With all who suffer, all who live; 
And who to all creation give 

The right to every creature due. 

Who breathe a sympathetic song, 
And live the love of One of old 
Who gathered sinners to His fold, 

And taught that only sin was wrong. 

Who stand wherever Duty calls. 

Nor faint nor falter at her voice. 
But in her least command rejoice, 

And feel her blessing ere it falls. 

Who bear the burden of the day. 

Yet know it not; who ask not why 
The neighbor standing idly by 
Shall seem to hinder all the way. 

Who, though themselves be judged, judge not. 
Nor see in brother's eye the mote; 
But all that is of worth denote, 

That good may be of good begot. 



17 



Who from base evil good distil; 

And so, transforming loss to gain, 

The only life of loss retain. 
Its single law of life fulfil. 

Who never utter thought unkind. 

Nor speak the word reflecting blame; 
Who though they know another's shame. 

Love's all-concealing mantle find. 

Who swell the harmony of life, 

And lessen each discordant tone. 
With hearts responsive to the moan 

Of those who suffer in the strife. 

Who with the largest bounty give 

That which all else in worth exceeds, 
And, giving self, inspire those deeds 

That prove man's highest claim to live. 

Who, though they know defeat, stand fast, 
Secure and strong, without alarm, 
Serenely conscious that no harm 

O'ertakes the line at anchor cast. 

Who know that Nature, as in days 
When He walked in Gethsemane, 
Keeps still a deep-toned melody. 

To chant in such a victor's praise. 

Who hate the false, who love the true, 
Who live the truth at any cost; 
Who, though the life be counted lost, 

Know well the touch that can renew. 



i8 



O noble souls! Your glorious power, 
Doth gladden all my earthly way; 
You change its night to joyful day. 

And gild the clouds that darkest lower. 

With you is life eternal now, 

No loss can touch what you bestow; 

And though the form be mouldering low. 
The spirit can itself endow 

With changeless form that never dies, 
Nor yet returns unto its source; 
But grows from man to man, a force 

That lives by what itself supplies. 

Oh, may your blessing on me fall; 

So sway my mind, my heart, my soul. 
That I unto the Perfect Whole 

May answer when its music call. 

Thus may I join the choir I see; 

Thus add to earth's immortal song; 

Its highest, noblest note prolong, 
Till life share all its harmony. 

Then will my Heaven begin while here, 
And life reflect from whence it came; 
And love, by its recording flame. 

Make all its own great meaning clear. 



19 



ODE TO POETRY 

I 

(^OD spake and said, Let there be light; 

With bridal blush East kissed the Morn; 
God smiled, beholding scene so bright: 
That moment Poetry was born. 

II 

O Smile of God, grant me one ray 

To weave into my lay! 
All idle shall its dearest tribute be, 
Unless it have inspiring light from thee. 

Come with thy great majesty, 

With passion-crowned tranquillity, 

With thy true sublimity. 

With thy perfect sympathy; 
Give of thyself some part to me. 

While I sing of thee; 
In thy splendor come, with glory rife. 
And let me taste the joy of thine eternal life! 

If I sing not in empyreal rays. 
Of what avail my praise? 

And if thy radiance prove too great, 
Oh, fear not, nor abate 

Thy gift: if with thee I fly, 

I shall be content to die. 
For, sitting on Olympus height, like Semele, 

It will be revealed to me 

However dull the human clod. 
If ruled by thee, it may become a god. 



20 



Come, oh, come with thy celestial power, 
And guide my vision for a single hour; 
Yet if thou withhold, still must I sing, 
And to thy mighty pinions cling, 
Trusting to catch some answering gleam 
In the very grandeur of my theme. 



Ill 

See, she cometh through the eastern gate, 

With heart elate. 
Even as on the morn 

When she was born; 
The witchery of endless youth, 
The radiance of unfaltering truth. 

Shining on the place 
Where she has turned her face, 
With its freshness and its grace; 
And where she treads, all melodies abound, 
For it is holy ground. 

Like the morning, 
All beautiful is her adorning; 
By night, by day, 
She glorifies the way; 
On land and sea. 
By tide or lea; 
But ever must her surest splendor be 
In the gift she brings to thee. 
To thee, O nation and O man; 
For brief must be thy span. 
If in thy heart she have no place. 

And leave upon thy life no trace; 
For where no vision is, or seer, 
The people perish and the night is near. 



21 



IV 

Behold her as she walks with flowers, 
And through the year a June embowers; 

List, her step upon the field, 
Where barren places beauty yield; 
Find her in the forest glade, 
Voiceful by her whispers made; 
Hear her in the rippling brook. 

In its foliage-covered nook. 
Fit spot for lovers' promise-laden vows. 
Whose hope her touch with life endows. 

Hearken to her laughter in the waves. 

Her deeper cadence in the rock-bound caves; 

See the illimitable loveliness of snow 

Whereon her footsteps come and go; 

Find her in the silence, whose majestic speech, 

All wordless, will life's deepest wisdom teach; 

Watch her throned upon the breast of Night, 

Its sovereign her satellite, 
As all the mighty hosts grow bright 
Voicing her joy, while the clouds she presses 
And woos them with her soft caresses. 
Brighter than the sunbeam at high noon, 
Fairer than the ray of fairest moon, 

Is her kiss on each and all. 

And the glory she lets fall. 

Wherever Nature lives, 

She reigns and gives 
Her song, her life, her love. 
With the joy that cometh from above; 
And on the impress of its day 
Breathes the life that fadeth not away. 



22 



But ever must the surest splendor be 
In the gift she brings to thee, 

To thee, O nation and O man; 
For brief must be thy span, 

If in thy heart she have no place, 

And leave upon thy life no trace; 

For where no vision is, or seer, 

The people perish and the night is near. 



As from nuptial kiss she came. 

Ever in her name 
Shall Love receive his dearest fame. 
Through her his wisdom is allied 

To all that life has deified; 

Highest, noblest, fairest, best, 

Royally to him addrest; 
Yet hear her say, 'Not unto me, 

O Love, But all to thee 
Shall the praise and glory be; 
I am the Smile, thou the Heart of Deity.' 
While Love answers, ' I am incomplete 
Until mine eyes thy radiance meet. 
Thy hand alone my crown prepares. 
Thy service all my glory shares. 
I sometimes know the sight of sin; 
With thee its foulness cannot enter in. 
I see in life the good, but know the ill. 
Thou dost interpret unto me the everlasting will; 

Convey to me that happiness 
Is owning God and nothing less.' 



23 



Listen now 
Where souls respond to marriage vow; 

What bliss she lends, 
No other e'er such blessing sends; 
Even here she bids us see 
The hope of her eternity. 
Through sunshine and through cloud, 

We hear her message loud; 
That witness still shall testify 

To the life that does not die. 
In the light of her sweet being, 
Happy hearts their Eden seeing, 

Find the paradise within, 
Without the tempter and the sin. 

With her all desolation 
Finds an answering salvation 

In trust that sees beyond the strife, 

The glow of one unending life. 

She gives to faith its coronal. 

To loyal souls their festival. 

And when she leads across the sea, 

To shining heights men call paternity. 
With jewel she endows 
Each new Madonna's brows. 

Immortal radiance all its ray begetting, 

Immortal light forever in its setting. 
Love has then his holiday. 

And in the winter keeps the heart of May. 



24 



O Smile of God, deign thou with us to dwell 

Until all love thy loftiest light compel! 

Give unto our hearts its place; 

Leave upon our lives its trace; 

For ever must the surest splendor be 

In the gift life gains from thee; 

For where no vision is or seer, 

The people perish and the night is near. 



VI 

Holier works appear; 

Grander melodies we hear! 
With them the hills of God we climb, 
And learn their harmonies sublime, 
Uttered by those upon whose lips she laid 
The ruddy kiss that cannot fade; 
Who looked within her heart and saw 
The secret of her heavenly law; 

Made it their own. 

Until upon their labor shone 
*The light that never was on land or sea,' 
Revealing to the soul its own immensity. 
How quickening is its smallest beam! 
How nobly men have toiled to gain its gleam! 
Gaining, they have scaled eternal height, 
And brought to earth the greatness of their flight 
With cherubim and seraphim allied. 
Henceforth the ills of earth defied. 

Clarifying all life's history. 

Beautifying all its mystery, 



Proving self subduing victory 

Can banish ill, 

And the world with wisdom fill; 

Gazing inward, still can find 

The best in Nature's mind 
And man's; can hear the throb of heartstrings 
In the pulsing of the ages; on her wings 
Speeding backward, learn of her to free. 
Yea, exalt each sense, and be 

Exponent of life's destiny. 
Supplying unto souls that thirst 
The wine of God; showing raiment that shall first 
Enfold His flesh. Leading men to see 

Himself in our humanity. 

O Man Eternal, 
Owning now her gift supernal, 
Rise, and do not doubt, 

But of thyself give out! 
Let thy labor show thy thought, 
And all that thou hast wrought, 

In silence or in crowd; 

Be no more unsought; 

Its gift allowed, 

Let men in homage speak. 

And, strong or weak, 

Award the victor's wreath, 

Nor let its thorns annoy, 
But prove in later day and men 
The nobler heroes and the greater Troy. 



26 



Let thy voice in noblest lay 

Be the singer of to-day. 
Herald all its glories forth, 
Until men shall see its worth; 
Use it as becomes its light, 
Increase its witness for the right, 
Make its gift of prophecy 
Banish every falsity; 
Sending on to re-create the new, 
The good, the beautiful, the true. 

Make thou another marriage feast, 
Invite the greatest and the least, 
There transubstantiate to gain 
Life's load of pain; 
Turn the water into wine 
By glance divine, 
'Till those who drink in spirit bow 
And say, 'The best is with us now.' 

Poet, deign 

To rule and reign. 
For ever must the surest splendor be 

In the gift we win from thee; 
And where no vision is, or seer. 
The people perish and the night is near. 

VII 

Find her once again within the symbols, 
Where hearts seek 
The eternal hope to speak, 
Varying from year to year. 
Yet ever with the pathway clear 



27 



To the realm from whence she came, 
Where to-day as yesterday the same 

Uplifting strength remains, 

And longing soul attains 
The mount where God's own 'Very good' 

Is completely understood. 
Where kiss upon His vesture laid, 
Abides His time and is repaid; 
Endurance in the royal heart begun, 
Triumph by celestial patience won; 

This she opens to our view. 
Lights the way and leads us through. 

Ideals in her hand 
Become the real for which they stand, 

Point beyond and typify 
Unchanging thought for man 

In the great Creator's plan. 
Show how he labors on to consummate 

Each hope — perpetuate 
His love, longing still to see 
Man's soul with his in perfect harmony. 
And no exclusive law has she 

Limiting man's sanctity; 
For the lowliest and the least 
She shows the temple and the great High Priest. 

Would you find the glory in the cloud. 
Before which all the stars have bowed? 
Gain through her the inner sight. 
And, bathed in its auroral light. 

The Hidden Face will be revealed 
And all that was before concealed. 



28 



Truth, not then without us, but within, 
Safe beyond the babble and the din, 

Our every hope surprises 
In the blessedness wherein it rises; 

Mercy takes the place of fears; 
A rainbow now across the years 
Illumes the mystery of tears. 
While the spirit's ardor burns. 
Nor lowliest aspiration spurns; 
Finding Highest in creation, 
Feeding human inspiration, 
Raising oft the veil between 
Our mortal eyes and the Unseen. 
With her the handmaid Duty 
Is transformed to Beauty; 
True renunciation 
Finds the largest consecration. 
And we learn that life, not creed. 

Is the universal need. 
The humblest then, as worker, priest, or seer, 
Walks with his Lord and knows no fear. 

Thus does earth 
Obtain the secret of immortal birth. 

And writes upon its record still 
That good finds tomb for every ill. 

O Smile of God, come with thy quickening ray; 

Show the God-head in the clay; 
To every heart the poet's favor bring; 
Let swelling chorus sing, — 
'The vision now is here. 
The symbol's meaning clear; 
No longer ruled by fear. 
Shade and shadow disappear.' 



29 



VIII 

Thou day-beam from on high, 
To us this hour draw nigh; 
Smile and symbol still of Deity, 
Come and answer thou our plea 
For the deeper life in thee. 

Our need is great; 
Our hope returneth desolate; 
We see men's hearts in grovelling way, 
Recognizing not the day; 
Breathing, but not living, 
Getting, but not giving; 
Brazen in an age of gold, 
Its heavenly alchemy untold; 
Yearning not, but leading 
To the lowest tempter's pleading; 

Deaf to brothers' cry and call, 

Dead to sisters' agony; 
Waiting beast-like in the stall 
Of their own up-building; 
Wrong and error gilding. 
Sin's progency increasing. 
While the hour its sorrow leasing 
Passes on, and inharmonious madness 
Adds itself to earth's unmeasured sadness. 
Thy presence sweet is everywhere. 

All thy beauty fills the air; 
But the blind eye knows no sight. 
Though a universe of suns give light. 



30 



The deaf ear hears no prayer, 
Whatever saint its words prepare. 
Breathe thou upon the ear that's sealed 
Until a great Belief hath healed; 
Touch thou the eye that's blind, 
And bid its night thy witness find; 

Break the captive's fetters, and set free 
The soul all mindless of its own vacuity. 
To thy habitations lead 
And on living waters feed. 
Let all our deeds be by thy radiance crowned, 
Our thoughts in semblance of thyself abound; 
Charity thy wisdom know, 
Passion with thy purity o'erflow, 
All unsoiled its virtue keep 
And in thy hands its highest purpose reap. 
Let Laughter, daughter of the sun. 
Fill the world with happier glee. 
Drinking deep from fountains of Felicity. 
Imagination own, 

Make there thy throne; 
Rule thou our faith, 
Its every portion consecrate. 
Its hope to deed translate. 
Dedicate it through thy grace, 
From it all impurity efface; 
Let its exaltation be 
To reach the heart of God, and see 
How infinite is Love's capacity. 



31 



No more then shall it sleep or slumber, 
But, like the mountain-echoing thunder, 
Reverberate with music from on high. 
The discord of the world defy. 
Changing all earth's deep affliction 
To unchanging benediction. 
Clothed with immortality. 
Yet wearing a divine simplicity. 
While Reason gains its loftiest sight 

In its serenely purifying light. 
In that rosy dawn where thou wert born. 
Steep each sense, until we know the bliss 
Of thine awakening kiss, 
And own the newness of thy morn. 
Then shall we find. 
With hallowed mind. 
Every sunrise has thee for its guest. 
As true as when the East in silence prest 
The Dawn, and folded her upon his breast. 
And every day thy beauty doth entrance, 
Yea, adorn each smallest circumstance; 

And every place 
Show thee not darkly, but as face to face. 
O Smile from Him, 
Be not in our nature dim; 
Take possession of our souls; 
Create the longing that controls. 

Sun descending, 

Night defending. 

Gift to men. 

Come as when 
God heard the angelic chorus swell 
His own assuring sentence, 'All is well.' 



32 



Lift thou our eyes unto the hills, 

Until the gaze life's tumult stills; 

In lonely or in crowded way, 

Preserve thy sway; 

Lead us as we view men's thought and deed, 
And hear thee plead 
For the justice all men need; 

Then shall music take the place of moan, 

And bloom for barrenness atone. 

Come and once again inspire 

Living souls to use thy lyre; 

Let it sound the newer song, 

The older symphony prolong! 

Waken to immortal birth 
Sons of earth; 

Bid unworthy contest cease, 

The hour's imperilled heritage release, 

Glorious in its majesty; 

And while striving to make free, 
Exhaustless in nobility, 

Yet stifled with a tyranny 

As odious in its infamy 

As ever darkened human way 
And closed the portals to eternal day. 

Bid one espoused self arise 
To keep the pathway open to the skies. 
Own thou his heart, then look within to read 
And sing the song attuned to human need. 



35 



Poet, Prophet, Priest, and Seer, 
Unto every nation dear, 
Come thou to ours 

With transcendent powers. 
We need thine all-transfiguring grace 

Across our meadowland of space. 

We need to hear thy voice, 

Bidding us rejoice. 
Translate for us the music in the air; 

Interpret all that is most rare. 

In thy plenitude of power. 
Help us guard our land's enriching dower. 

Its opulence of greatness sent 

To be a people's instrument, 

And advance God-given plan 
To make complete His servant, Man. 

Be the watchman on the height. 
To tell us of the night; 

Save us from its danger and its threat; 
Show us where the stars are set. 
Arise and be our Prometheus, 
Who without defrauding Zeus 
Supplies the fire for mortals' use; 
Stand upon the new Caucasus. 
Subdue its vulture, chain and rock, 
And its subtler mysteries unlock. 

Show men the freedom that enslaves; 
Point to the liberty that saves. 
Hold the sword with awful flaming, 
And the jewel with the heavenly naming 
Be the word made flesh; dwell 
Among us, and thy gospel tell. 

For ever must the surest splendor be 
In the gift we gain from thee; 

And where no vision is or seer, 

The people perish and the night is near. 

34 



IX 

To-day, to-day, 

O Smile of God, to-day, 
Add thy light unto our lay; 
Come with heaven-illuming rays, 
Show thyself within our praise. 

Enter now our temple gate. 
Be our gracious guest of state. 

While with royal homage meet 
We lay our offering at thy feet. 
Come, Music, with celestial gift, 
In her praise thine anthems lift; 
Come, Song, with thy diviner ring, 
All her long-earned tribute sing; 
Come, Color, and let canvas speak, 
Where words shall idle seem or weak; 
Come, Marble, and again embrace 
Her beauty, and its features trace; 
Come, Art, and prove thyself divine. 
Because her glories in thee shine. 
Come all things that are good and rare. 
Make her thine handmaid and her trophies wear. 
Ye hillsides, laugh in answer to her glance; 
Ye mountains, robe her, and your lights enhance; 
Ye meadows, bring to her your sheaves; 
Ye trees, exult to show her in your leaves; 
Ye valleys, in your dimplement reveal 
Her kiss, that ye in loving ardor steal; 
Ye brooks, laugh on to see her at your side; 



35 



Ye seas and rivers, bring her on each tide; 

Ye flowers, enwreathe for her your crown; 

Ye grasses, waving, whisper her renown; 

Ye cataracts, enfold her as ye leap; 

Ye precipices, build her altars steep; 

Ye moon and stars, beam on her as ye shine; 

Ye greater lights, proclaim her melodies divine: 

All that has life in one enraptured psalm 
Her greatness and her gifts embalm. 
Yet most triumphant shall her honors be. 
When, O Man, she gives herself to thee. 
Then holy, holy, holy, is the song on high , 
And holy, holy, holy, does the world reply. 
Come, then, O Goddess of the light, 
Bring in thy reign without one starless night! 

Bring thy vision of the sun. 

As when thy loveliness was won. 
Bring again the vernal sweetness 
That enfolds thine own completeness; 
Awake one utterance impassioned, 
Showing how thy praise is fashioned. 

Kindle in us those undying fires 

That light imperishable desires 
Effulgent keep the life between 
Our souls and all that is unseen. 

But see, she comes! away all fleeting doubt, away! 

She is with us here to-day. 
Behold, in coronation robe she stands 
To receive the tribute of thy hands 

Sound, sound, one rapturous song! 
Over the land its strain prolong. 



36 



Away, all fleeting doubt, away! 

She is with us here to-day; 
Our hearts respond unto her sway. 
See her smile, as East and West 
Place their jewels on her breast. 

See her touch upon the brow 

Of our sunny Southland now. 

Watch her beckon to the North, 

As it brings its treasure forth. 
Away, all fleeting doubt, away! 

She is with us here to-day. 
Here to show us still the throne 

Builded ever for her own; 
Here to teach us how to tell 

Her own unending miracle; 
Here to show us how the shade of wrong 
Dissolves in one undying song; 
Here to tell us how in lowliest things 
Some voice seraphic has its whisperings. 
Here to swell the melody earth hears, 
High above the music of the spheres. 
Rising from the soul that feels itself a part 
Of every breathing, throbbing heart; 
Here to show us what is free 
In Love's divinest ecstasy; 
Here to foster, not to-morrow's splendor. 
But to-day's light, beautiful and tender. 
Here to lead us to the height, 
And roll away the shades of night. 
Here to speak God's word in accents clear, 

To make His light appear. 
To show that where no vision is, or seer, 
The people perish and the night is near. 



37 



LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG 

A NATION'S voice, a nation's praise, 

About its honored dead; 
The spot where on eventful days 
Its heroes fought and bled; 
The spot where Freedom's spirit spoke 

In words sublime and true, 

And where her trumpet tone awoke 

The old song and the new. 

The old song with the newer strain, 

To make the first complete. 
With melody that lives attain 

Through victory and defeat! 
O sacred spot! thrice sacred now 

As years thy record prove! 
Before thy shrines all patriots bow. 

Whose sight all doubts remove. 

The patriot's heart with ardor glows, 

Remembering proffered lives; 
He hears in one strong breeze that blows, 

'Life goes, but Love survives,' 
The love that stirs a nation's heart 

And bears a nation's fame. 
Wherever brave deeds have a part 

And men such deeds proclaim. 

He knows its thrilling music tells 

Of those who fell asleep, 
And here found tombs, while muffled bells 

A nation's birthday keep. 



38 



He hears as well the tender moan 

That in its cadence sings 
For those who sit henceforth alone, 

Whose muffled bell still rings. 

He hears the added strain it bears 

For all who bravely fought, 
For him who in the silence wears 

The scars the battle brought; 
Who wears them with a hero's might. 

And honors still the hour 
That won a nation's priceless right, 

And proved a nation's dower. 

He hears it when it brings the name 

That won a martyr's crown, 
Our glorious chief, whose stainless fame 

His country's best renown. 
It brings the matchless words he said, 

Standing above their sod. 
In hour whose burning import led 

A people nearer God. 

It is not ours to dedicate 

This peace of earth so dear, 
Nor is it ours to consecrate 

The deeds men witnessed here; 
That has been done by those who died, 

On nation's altar slain; 
They have these hillsides sanctified, 

Oh, prove it not in vain! 



39 



Great leader true! throughout all time 

The world shall hear thy voice; 
Because of thee, a holier chime 

Bids Liberty rejoice. 
'Twas fitting you should tell of those 

Who wrote in blood their song, 
And here thy nobler thought disclose 

How nations shall be strong. 

How brave men shall perpetuate 

The freedom bravely won, 
Forbid that treason desecrate 

What loyal sires begun; 
And here on this great field to-day. 

In memory of thy birth, 
Let nation's love its tribute pay. 

And echo round the earth. 

But let our tribute reach the height 

Thy larger manhood saw. 
That broad humanity, whose light 

Was thy diviner law; 
That law whose good is absolute. 

Whose mandate, strong and pure. 
From every ill can good transmute 

And make its change secure. 

If thus we find our gift in thee, 
Its vaster strength will live 

To prove its own integrity 
In what we aim to give; 



40 



In sense of duty nobly met, 

In nature nobly plain, 
In love of men, sublimely set 

In diadems of pain. 

In statesman of heroic mould, 

His country's great high priest, 
Whose human heart could still enfold 

All things, the great, the least; 
Who proved to earth that simple trust 

Is more than Norman blood. 
That who would rule must first be just, 

The great must first be good. 

To love is ever to ascend; 

Oh, let our love, like thine. 
The nation's highest good attend. 

And with thy spirit shine! 
Thus shall our tribute catch from thee 

Its worthiest, noblest, best; 
And one united country see 

Thy life's divine bequest. 

O Gettysburg! thy living dead 

Speak still across the years. 
And by their voice our hearts are led 

Above all passing fears; 
But keep, O hills! one record true. 

And one great captain's name; 
Oh, then shall all men see in you 

A nation's deathless fame! 



41 



i 



THE VIOLET 

r\ VIOLET, sweet violet, 

Within thy tender leaves. 
What mystic message speaks to me, 
What hidden story breathes? 

Each purpling leaflet seems to strive 

To whisper unto me; 
But though I feel thy perfumed breath, 

Thy tale is still with thee. 

And still my wondering quest must ask 
What power within thee lies 

To waken thoughts 'too deep for tears,' 
Yet thoughts that end in sighs? 

What sorrowing spirit gave thee birth? 

For still I seem to feel, 
When I inhale thy tender breath, 

Some strangely sad appeal. 

Oh, wert thou born in Paradise, 

In that dark, fateful hour 
When Eve first heard the tempter's voice. 

And yielded to its power? 

Or didst thou blossom where she stood 
When, full of anguished fears, 

She sought forgiveness for her sin. 
And wept repentant tears? 



Or didst thou bloom beneath her feet, 

When, by the angel led, 
She looked her last on Paradise, 

And knew its hopes were fled? 

Or did the air first feel thy breath 
When one great heart and brave 

Died for his Lord? Did'st thou awake 
To mark his lonely grave ? 

Perchance thy bloom first saw the light 
When Love wooed love in vain, 

And Venus, moaning her sad fate. 
Wept for Adonis slain. 

Or do thy leaves reflect the glow 
Of pity, wrought on high, 

When faintly heavenward ascends 
A little child's weak cry? 

Or art thou but the breath of one 

Who wore her life away, 
Because a sin she deemed too dark 

Forbade her lips to pray? 

Or does the light I find in thee 
Come from the patient smile 

Of one who wore a crown of pain, 
Unmurmuring the while? 

Or did'st thou catch the weary sighs 

Wrung from a noble soul. 
Compelled to climb another's stair, 

And eat a loveless dole? 



43 



Perchance thou art from those dark tears 
That grief-crowned mothers shed, 

When yet they stand with empty arms 
Above their first-born — dead. 

And yet — O thought too dear to speak !- 
If tears brought thee to light, 

They surely were the tears of Him 
Who made our darkness bright. 

For He alone could give to grief 
A power so strangely sweet, 

And He alone could give to woe 
A fragrance so complete. 

O lovely flower! how vain my quest! 

Thou wilt not answer me; 
The wondrous secret of thy life 

Must still abide with thee. 

And wise art thou; thy treasure keep; 

It is enough to know 
That thou dost live, that from thy leaves 

Such mystic meanings flow. 

But this I pray: if from my tears 
One flower should ever bloom, 

Oh, may it speak in breath like thine. 
And yield as sweet perfume. 



44 



A SONG OF SPRINGTIME 

npHERE is a song a poet sings, 

That to my heart true comfort brings; 
It tells in such assuring way 
The year's good promise of the May; 
And oft amid the winter gloom, 
When days are dark, and wanting bloom, 
I whisper o'er the glad refrain: 
♦The spring will soon be here again.' 

But catching now its echo sweet, 
I breathe it into prayer most meet, 
For you, O tender heart and true. 
To whom my soul is wed anew; 
May each new year your May-time bring. 
And, lingering, may its gladness cling. 
To brighten all your winter gloom, 
When days are dark and wanting bloom, 
And bid you hear the glad refrain: 
'The spring will soon be here again.' 



45 



COMMENCEMENT ODE 



VyHAT noble deed 

Will each one bring 
To crown the years, whose echoes ring 
Within these halls? 

What clamoring need 
Will each one meet 
As forth he goes with eager feet 
Into the world, to falter, fall, or lead? 
Oh, let no trifler answer here. 
With boastful or with timid cry 

Make his reply! 
The hour demands a deeper thought, 
A longing with high purpose fraught, 
And every worthy lesson caught 
Afar or near. 



II 

The breast-plate that your Mother gives, 
On which her name untarnished lives, 
Will you with stainless virtue wear. 
And her dauntless motto bear, 

Until the day is done 
And for her your trophy won? 
Oh, guard it even as your life! 
Let no unworthy strife 
Its brightness dim. 
Add to its lustre, if you will, 
The story of your skill, 

Whatever be your fate. 
In lowly place or great, 
Give to the days your best. 
And leave with God the rest. 



46 



Ill 

This glorious hour 

Is pregnant with undreamed-of power. 
'Tis yours to use, 
'Tis yours to lose; 
You cannot its gift refuse. 
Shall not the Right have truer ring 
Because of What your acts will bring? 
Shall not the Truth reveal her own 
Because her light within her shone? 
Shall not each day your wisdom prove, 
Nor power of earth your honor move? 

These questions you alone must meet, 
As forth you go with eager feet. 
Oh, answer well! 
By life, by thought, by tongue, by pen, 
Prove you are men! 



IV 

The portal swings to darkness wide, 

And all your paths are yet untried; 

But hope before you runs 

With quenchless torch, nor shuns 

The darkest way. With her unfading glc 

What may not youth and vigor know? 



V 

Yet dear as hope is, dearer still 

Is Faith; faith in one's self; faith to fulfil 

Whatever man has strength to will; 



47 



Faith to climb, but greater faith to stand 
With patient, yea, with folded hand. 
If need be, letting life itself translate 
The hidden meaning of the order, 'Wait' 

VI 

But if you find your day 
Amid the thunders of the fray. 
Even until the night is born. 
And deeper night descend, without a star. 
Without a hint, a ray, 
A promise of the morn, 
While all your soul in anguish 
Feels and owns the battle's scar. 
Oh, faint not, nor languish. 
But press on, amid the throng 
Stalwart, brave, and strong; 
Till others of your strength partake, 

And you make 
The echo that shall roll 
Forever on from soul to soul; 
The echo that shall witness be 
Of your best claim to Immortality. 

VII 

And doubt not. Life will yield its own to each. 
Let nothing slip beyond your reach; 

For in its wise economy 
All things are good. To use aright 
Is the true secret of the master's might; 

And he who with sincerity 
Still follows well the light within 
Shall make and shape the greater light 



+8 



For which we wait. The grander day 

It is with you to usher in. 
Its call is sounding even as we speak; 

Shall you its voice obey, 
Or shall you craven prove and weak? 
A land of promise is your own; 
But promise in itself alone 
May be but subterfuge, and cloud the way. 

'T is action, action, the world needs; 
They only live who mark the way with deeds. 

VIII 

With honest, earnest, manly deeds; 

Deeds that shall prophetic be 
Of all Love's vast immensity; 
Deeds that stir to nobler aim, 

And still proclaim 
The value of life's creeds. 
Nor let the soul in easeful sloth 
Forget the meaning of true growth; 
But upward, onward to the Mount, until you see 

The very height of God's Eternity, 
Or show yourself transfigured, even as did He. 
Oh, tremble not; 
Nor let some spot 
Upon the hour obscure your sun. Keep the brave 
heart 
Of day, of night a part; 
With all great thoughts of high emprise 
Forever shining from your eyes. 



49 



IX 

And here we pause. Your gracious Mother speaks, 
Her heart the while o'erflowing in her eyes, 
As all in vain she seeks 

To quell the feeling that must rise 
With thought of you. 
We hear her say, 
You are my sons. 
My life has fed. 
My hand has led 
You to this day. 
If you are worthy, mine the praise; 
And, alas! 't is also true 
If aught you do 
To merit blame, or question raise 

Of honor, worth, or truth, 
I too must suffer, and my name 

Be sullied by your shame. 
But oh, turn with me to the page 

On which is found your heritage 
And my imperishable fame. 

While this is ours, I have no fear; 
The guerdon of my toil has tribute clear. 
Behold the names! See other wreaths than mine 
Around the annals of their glory twine. 

On battle-field, in legislative hall, 
In pulpit, and in scholar's chair, 
Wherever duty with its trumpet-call 
Has sounded, they were there; 
They rendered unto me the Purple that I wear. 
Turn now again your sight 

To what may seem a lesser light: 



50 



For not in highest place 
Will you its beauty trace; 
Its softened ray reveals 
What praise too oft conceals; 

Oh, find; and consecrate anew 
That homage ever and forever due 
To those who in the silence face 

Life's humble labors and its pain; 
Who ne'er complain, 
But with unconscious grace 
The soul's true temples build; nor seek to enter in. 
Content to leave with Him 
Whether they fail or win 
The mystic meaning of the life within. 
These, these enrich me with imperial power, 
These are the jewels in my crest 
That give to me a matchless and unquestioned 
dower. 

And all this priceless legacy is yours, 
With all that it secures. 
Its greatness keep, make its light your own; 

Nor shall you stand alone, 
'The gods are to each other not unknown ' 

X 

And now, with all high hope and expectation. 

Shall your song be one of exultation. 
Filled with all the future holds. 

And all the present still controls? 
Or shall its notes in minor key 

Come back to me, 
Wailing some lost opportunity? 
Among you there are those 



SI 



Of heroic mould; 
But whatever you disclose, 

My love and thought your lives enfold, 
My hopes, and all that your hope shares. 

My aspirations and my prayers. 
Must ever follow you, 

False to yourself or true. 
Whether the path go downward, or lead to heights 

above. 
You cannot go beyond the circle of my love. 

And here my heart reminds me of the few 

Who came, and passed away 
To the bright vision of the Longer Day. 

They went while yet the dew 
Was fresh, and all life's flowers gave 

The fragrance that is ever new. 
So much is theirs we may not hope to save. 
For us remain the tears. 
The shattered hopes and fears; 
The morn cut off too soon, 
For them, beyond our gloom, 
The fuller, grander noon. 
The Spring time and eternal bloom. 

XI 

For you on every hand 

Duty waits. 
Woe to him who hesitates 

At her command; 
Or fails,when she is near. 

To keep the watchful eye, 

Or dare deny 



53 



To her the listening ear; 
She will teach you how to see 

The wants of our humanity; 
To make less cheap the lives of men; 
To raise your voice and use your pen 
For Freedom, Truth, and Right, 
And keep them sacred in men's sight; 
To love the land we call our own; 
This land with every Good supplied; 
This land for which our heroes died; 
To love her not alone 
For the greatness she has shovvn. 

And the grandeur she has known, 
Through darkness and humility 
Your love must be 
The pledge of brave sincerity. 
Let martyr's faith be yours to give, 

Enforce and prove her right to live. 
But listen closest when she tells 

Of that benignant and eternal law 
From which your soul cannot withdraw; 
Whose majesty forever swells 
The righteous plea 
For true equality; 
Written on all life's histories. 
Hidden in all its mysteries, 

The one thing ever to endure, 
Holy, true, and pure; 
That each is part of that great Plan 
That knows the God Himself in man. 



53 



XII 

For God, for Country, and Humanity 

The cry is given, — 
Forward, now, with your undinted shield 
Forward, until day to night shall yield; 
Forward, with the soldier's might; 
Forward, with the scholar's light; 
Forward, until Truth prevail, 

And no foes the Right assail! 
Forward, until Freedom's won 
For every race beneath the sun! 

Forward, until you 
Have proved your manhood true. 
Forward, until Wisdom's voice 
Resounds in yours, and bids the world rejoice. 
Forward, until all shall see 
And feel your deep sincerity. 
Forward; let the heights you climb 
Point men to heights still more sublime. 
Forward, till the earthly way 
Fades in the glory of Eternal Day. 



54 



HYMN TO WISDOM 

T)AUGHTER of God! O Wisdom, hear! 
Thou who art never sought in vain, 
We would within thy court appear 

And prove the good we strive to gain. 
Eager we seek the holy place 
Where we may see thee face to face; 
Daughter of Him who made the light, 
Increase in us the power of sight. 

Mother of Peace! A tranquil heart 
Abides with those who know thee best; 

And they to life a strength impart, 
In conflict to thyself attest. 

Oh, hear us, and our prayer attend. 

Let this, thy peace, on us descend; 

Let tumult find in us thy calm. 

Through conquest raise the victor's psalm. 

Mother of Virtue! in whose voice 

Is found the song to life attuned, 
Oh, help us early make that choice 

That saves the soul its deepest wound! 
But if the evil should pursue. 
Do thou, dear goddess, ill undo. 
And lead, oh, lead to that fair hill 
Where Truth, ascending, beckons still. 

Great Truth! Thy sun, within whose rays 
Earth's evils quickly fade or die. 

Whose golden flame creates the days 
From which all sin and folly fly; 



55 



Within his gleam let learning find 
That in itself it may be blind, 
Or useless, idle, vain, and weak, 
Until through thee its sources speak. 

Divine consoler! — yea, and more, 

True counsellor, unfailing friend, 
Whom mortals know and then adore, — 

To faltering youth thy guidance lend. 
And thou who art forever young. 
Show us the halo o'er thee hung 
When He who made thee smiled, and saw 
The full perfection of His law. 

Hail, holy light! We feel thy power 
Enshrining sun and star and earth, 

As truly seen in smallest flower 
As when we learn of planets' birth; 

Yet holiest art thou when we see 

In man himself thy majesty; 

Oh, shine out then in human deed. 

And crown thyself in human need! 

All bounteous one! do not withhold 
The light that thou alone canst give; 

Through thine own searching make and mould 
And prove in us the right to live. 

Come! Take possession of our souls. 

Be the blest vision that controls! 

If thus thou answer to our call. 

Though owning nothing, we have all. 



56 



INVOCATORY ODE 

[fVrittenfor the Inauguration of a College President) 

Q SPIRIT, 

^^ Maker of the heart, 

From whom alone our every good proceeds, 

Draw near and be Thyself a part 

Of this great hour. Show us our needs; 
If we Thy purpose see 
It must be, Lord, through Thee, 

All else Thy glory to conceal. 

But, oh, do Thou Thyself reveal ! 

We would be wise. 

Great Teacher, still bestow 

The gift to know 
Where wisdom is. Brighter than ruby's glow 
Is the fair jewel it is Thine to give 
To those who in Thy presence live. 
The path of understanding we shall see 
Only as we walk with Thee. 

We would be strong. 

Make right prevail, 

Whate'er assail; 
Hold Michael's sword within our hand. 
With strength to dare and to withstand. 

We know the day 

Is worth the fray. 
That all this conquest may be ours. 
If his courage sway our powers: 



57 



Nor make the battle less; 

The soul must know its stress, 
And through the struggle win release, 
And gain at last the promised peace. 

We would be true. 

This above all. 
Author of truth! On Thee we call 
To free all men from error's thrall. 

Without this we must bondmen be, 

Subject to basest slavery 
Fill with the truth the soul, 

Make the moral nature whole! 
O voice of God! sound full and strong. 
Until our lives the strain prolong; 
Till it is clear in all we do 
That we unto ourselves are true. 

So mould each man 
On grandest plan. 

Wise, strong, and true, 
Thy crown and seal on all we do. 
So let possession 
Win progression, 
Until the highest is attained, 
And the manhood Thou dost honor 
Prove the manhood we have gained. 
And thus, O Thou who canst make great. 
Show us 'tis men that make a state; 
Then shall the nation stand secure, 
And all that is of worth endure. 



SI 



5* 



WEDDING HYMN 
O SUN, 

From out whose gracious rays 
Came forth the day of days 

When my dear Love was born, 
Shine out, 

And with thy brightness pay 
Due homage to her wedding day; 
Bring gift, in golden gleam, 
A prophecy of good in every beam; 
Rejoice with so much of thyself that in her lives, 
Which she with loving joy to others freely gives. 

O Moon, 

From out whose peaceful life, 

A spirit came to guard her own from strife, 
Shine out. 

And with thy softest light 

Make happy Peace to rule her wedding night; 
Let all thy rays in silvery sheen, 
Whisper of coming nights serene; 
Rejoice with so much of thyself that in her lives, 
Which she with loving joy to others freely gives. 

Oh Stars, 

From out whose twinkling beams 

Came radiant gleams 

To dwell, and find within her soul an added 

glow, 
A sunnier warmth than ever stars do know. 
Catch from unsetting suns to-night 
A ruddier tint — a hint of Heavenly light; 



59 



Reflect her eyes, 

And make new beauty in the skies; 
Rejoice with so much of yourselves that in her lives, 
Which she with loving joy to others freely gives. 

O Flowers, 

Whose censers swinging slow. 
To touch the breath that first she drew. 
Lift loyally your heads, and gayly smile 
With joy, the while 
Exhaled rare fragrance fed with morning dew 

In rich perfume 

Her bridal blossoms bloom; 
Cull sweet perfection from her face. 
And then give back your borrowed grace; 
Rejoice with so much of yourselves that in her lives, 
Which she with loving joy to others freely gives. 

O Music, 

Born upon celestial lyres, 
And thrilling 'mid angelic choirs. 
Come nearer earth to-day, 
Whisper in my lay; 
Repeat the melody you sent 
When to the world her voice you lent; 
Swell in the air that tells 
The echoes of the bells; 
Be like her lover's heart. 
Of her own a part; 
Rejoice with so much of yourself that in her lives, 
Which she with loving joy to others freely gives. 



60 



THE MESSAGE OF THE DEAD 

(memorial day) 

f^NCE again through the soundless street 

Echoes the tread of marching feet, 
And once again the spring-time waves 
Perfumed grasses over its graves. 

Once again the immortelles bloom 
Over the soldier's honored tomb, 
While we a soulful chorus raise 
To those beyond our meed of praise, — 

The Dead, who speak in mightier tone 
Than any living lips have known, 
Who through the silence still proclaim 
A message grander than their fame. 

Hear it, heed it, O thinking men, 
Send it afar with voice and pen. 
Or else these sons have died in vain, 
And you their mighty conquest slain. 

Oh, hearken to it here to-day. 
Hear it, and on your altars pray 
For stronger hand and wiser heart, 
Its good to guard, its word impart. 

'We died,' they say, 'that you should be. 
The voice of nobler prophecy, 
Advance the soul-illuming light 
That puts the shade of caste to flight. 



6i 



*We died, O men, that you might see 
The freedom that alone makes free, 
Finding the doom of race unrolled, 
Unless its men are self-controlled. 

'We died our fellow-men to save. 
From every shackle of the slave, 
Make plain the "inward liberty," 
That lives the true humanity. 

'And born of this, time's fairest flower 
Yields unto you its priceless dower, 
Its boundless good in fragrance now 
Asks from your heart one loyal vow. 

'Crown it with love that shall appear 
As is the sun at noonday clear. 
Then wreathe to-day the blue and gray 
With bloom that fadeth not away. 

'The bloom that sees not in the past, 
In war's alarm or trumpet blast. 
One gleam of that dark hour survive 
That kept the reign of hate alive. 

'Oh, let the mantle spun in blood, 
And woven for a nation's good, 
Cover the errors that were made, 
Errors in sorest anguish paid. 

'The reverence that holds us dear 
Proves the divine is with you here; 
Let living hearts its blessing feel. 
Service for them its witness seal. 



62 



'Forget not those who did not die 

With broken heart and stifled cry, 

Who kept the home and hearth fire bright, 

Through tears that made no rainbow light. 

'True soldiers, though they bore no sword, 
Nor blazoned page their names record, 
Thorn-pierced and wounded, brave and calm, 
Their country's solace and its balm. 

'O noble woman, unto you 

Is our exulting tribute due! 

Thy strength the conflict only proves, 

Thy courage high the night removes. 

'No battle is like thine, nor scar. 
Life's midnights but reveal thy star. 
Thy faith sublime, that never dies. 
And all thy suffering justifies. 

* Others there are whose names once dear 
Now sacred in your sight appear. 
No longer young, but still "Our Boys," 
Bearing a youth no time destroys. 

' "Our Boys!" God bless them! Make them yours 

In all that reverent love secures: 

Keep smooth the path for faltering feet 

And unto death their wishes meet. 

'They walked with us, they shared our pain. 
They bore the old flag back again, 
Its tattered folds an emblem still 
Of all that earth can best fulfil. 

'True to its purpose still they served 
And asked not what the past deserved, 



63 



They proved the nation's steadfast power 
In brightest as in darkest hour. 

'Old comrade with an empty sleeve, 
Keep the brave heart; great souls believe 
The grander labor has been yours, 
Rebuilding temple that endures. 

'But one great sword may not grow dim, 
Peace hath her victories to win. 
Each linked forever with the morn 
Where sacred harmonies are born. 

*Sword of the Spirit, do thy work! 
Until no foes in ambush lurk; 
Protect the power that guards and saves 
The instinct, that no soul enslaves. 

'Come, Love and Peace, make good your reign! 
Let all this land be your domain! 
Till North, and South, and East, and West 
Make of your gifts our country's crest. 

* "Our Country," hallowed be thy name! 
And sacred before God thy fame! 
Mother of Peoples yet to be. 
Sun-crowned with Love's sublimity! 

'No dead stone from the past is thine, 
On which some buried self may shine, 
No night entombing ruins vast. 
Its shadow on the day to cast. 



64 



'Thou art the present, in an age 
Replete with ripest heritage, 
One signal triumph all thine own, 
Each man a king, thy gift his throne. 

'May God-like men this gift sustain, 
Through lofty aim its rights retain. 
Make statesmen of heroic mold, 
Dauntless in truth, in wisdom bold. 

' "Westward the course of empire lies." 
Thou art the West, whose sun-lit skies 
Lighten the world, and point the way 
To glories of the grander day. 

'Thy children kiss thy garment's hem, 
And lo! a virtue falls on them. 
This holy influence caught from thee 
Transmutes to loftiest destiny. 

'This destiny we shared and gave 
Our all of earth its hope to save. 
Resplendent Hope! by thee enthroned 
Where nothing human is disowned. 

'To thy great soil our dust is wed. 
Fit symbol of the love you fed, 
While with our own are mingled those 
Who faced, and fought, and fell as foes. 

'Brothers in death as well as life, 
Brothers to-day beyond all strife, 



6s 



Brothers in holiest peace allied, 
Long may its fruit with thee abide.* 

This is the message of the dead, 
In solemn cadence sung and said. 
Its mandate true and strong and great. 
Let life, not death perpetuate. 



SALUTAMUS 

gOLDIERS brave in days of old, 

Facing dangers manifold. 
Looked unto their king to cry, 
*Thee do we salute and die!' 

Service for an earthly king 
Other ending cannot bring; 
Whatsoe'er thy record be, 
Death is all it gives to thee. 

Christian brave, where'er thy way. 
Thine it is with joy to say, 
'King, to whom my heart I give, 
Thee do I salute and live!' 

Service for the Heavenly King, 
Love and life eternal bring; 
He alone true life can give. 
Him we may salute and live. 



66 



LYRICS 



REDEEMING LOVE 

T KNOW, I know that my Redeemer lives; 

This thought to life its highest glory gives; 
But, O my Soul, how much of this is shared 
With those to w^hom no portion is prepared? 

He lives in self.surrender like His own; 
Have I in truth such self-surrender shown? 
Then truly is His own redemption shared 
With those for whom no portion is prepared. 

My Christ! My Lord! This, this I cannot do, 
Unless Thou daily all my strength renew. 
And grant to me to give as I have shared 
The great redemption by Thyself prepared. 

Then though my soul dwell in some secret place, 
And Thou alone its earthly record trace. 
Yet surely is its own redemption shared 
With those for whom no portion is prepared. 



69 



PRAYER 

A SABBATH peace is on the earth, 

A Sabbath quiet in the air; 
Oh, let them touch my heart, dear Lord, 
And quicken it to thoughtful prayer. 

To prayer that freely goes to thee 

With eager wish to know thy will, 

Content to let the blessing wait. 

And all its own great law fulfil. 

For well I know, thou God of Love, 
No soul finds Thee by word alone; 

Oh, make my life itself a prayer, 

A constant pleading at Thy throne! 



TRUST 

T SEE not what the day may bring, 

I know not what the night may yield; 

But one great thought my soul doth fill: 

God is my Light, my Hope, my Shield. 

I may not walk where others lead, 

Some faiths I do not comprehend; 

But this I know: that God is Love, 
And He will all my ways attend. 

I may not keep one worldly gift, 
So much to me this life denies; 

But with the Bread of Life He fills, 
My hungry soul he satisfies. 

All earthly loves know change and loss, 
All earthly glories pass away; 

But He supplies the life, the loves. 
That know no shadow of decay. 

Let then the day bring what it will. 

And still the night its portion yield; 

I walk serene, upheld by Him 

Who is my Life, my Light, My Shield. 



71 



COMMUNION 

/^OME, Lord, and make Thy Presence known; 

With larger light our lives endow; 
Increase the love that can alone 
A sacramental feast allow. 



This outward rite is poor indeed, 

Unless the Christ is found within; 

And He the Soul its portion feed. 

Strengthen the heart, and cleanse from sin. 

Awake, O Soul! behold Him near; 

Through human eyes he pleadeth still; 
In human form make Him appear. 

Through human aid his hopes fulfil. 

Reach out in this communion hour, 

And touch with Him some brother's hand; 

Bestow the food with Christ-like power. 
And lo ! beside you see Him stand. 



72 



WORTHY THY GOSPEL 

\1/'0RTHY Thy Gospel, Lord, 
^^ This is my prayer; 
Worthy its thought of me. 

Its tender care. 
Worthy its duties high, 

Waiting each day; 
Worthy its Light divine. 

Pointing the way. 

Worthy the peace it brings 

When tempests lower; 
Worthy the home prepared, 

Won by its power. 
Worthy the matchless love. 

Casting out fears; 
Worthy its sorrows, too, 

Worthy its tears. 

Lord, do I ask too much? 

Greater remains, 
Thinking of Calvary's 

Agonized pains. 
Worthy of this, O Christ, 

I cannot be. 
Save as Thy boundless love 

Pleadeth for me. 



73 



THE SCHOLAR'S STRENGTH 

\^/'E thank Thee, Lord, Thou bidst man see 

In human lives some part of Thee; 
This Faith and Hope are left secure 
In souls that labor and endure. 

We thank Thee for the influence shed 
When Thought is by Thy Spirit led; 
Where leading others means the sway 
Of lofty purpose day by day. 

We bless Thee, Lord, whate'er befall 
Leaders arise to meet Thy call; . 
And leave to earth the quenchless light 
Of wisdom found within Thy Sight. 

Lord, over all, 'tis ours to praise 
That we have walked in fruitful ways, 
Where Learning's toil was glorified 
By Scholar unto Thee allied. 



COBBLE AND CRYSTAL 

npHE sun then light upon a stone. 

And it a cobble-stone remained; 
Its rays upon a crystal shone 

And myriad eyes to light attained. 

Yet in the aeons by and bye 

May not the stone a crystal be? 

I can but answer with a sigh, 
**It is not crystal now for me." 



74 






WHERE POPPIES GROW 

/^LOSE by the field where poppies grow, 

My Love and I, long years ago, 
Went hand in hand, one summer day, 
In that fair land that keeps the May 
Forever hid in skies of blue, 
The morning ever fresh with dew. 
And all the light of springtime glow, — 
The golden land where poppies grow. 

Here, as we plucked the sunlit flower, 
We saw the secret of its power; 
In love it won from shade and sun. 
And lived its light till day was done; 
Caught golden gleam, and in its hue 
Still held the freshness of the dew 
And gave no hint that winter snow 
Can blight the fields where poppies grow. 

O Love, 't is years and years ago, 

Since we have walked where poppies grow, 

Yet have you kept for me the glow 

Of that fair day so long ago; 

As hand in hand we walk to-day. 

You fill my heart with joy of May, 

And though our heads are white as snow 

Love keeps the gleam the poppies know. 



75 



HYMN FOR FOREFATHERS' DAY 

(^OD of the Pilgrim, in whose name 

Our land was born through blood and flame, 
Grant us to keep its altar fires 
Fed with the torch of high desires. 

Our fathers' God! we look to Thee 
To give the Truth that made them free. 
It was for this they lived and died; 
Through this their deeds are glorified. 

God of the nations! in whose sight 
Men walk from darkness into light, 
Give us the light our fathers saw, 
Living and loving all Thy law. 

Give us their singleness of heart, 
Their courage unto us impart. 
Their steadfast faith, unfaltering trust, 
Their stern support of all that's just. 

Their fearless following of the right, 
Through days of threat and blinding night; 
Their strength to kneel and praise and pray. 
Though tempests swept athwart their way. 

Through stress and storm they won for earth 
The secret of a nation's birth; 
The good they gave is ours to keep; 
O God! let us its harvest reap. 



76 



DEDICATION HYMN 

r\RAW Thou near, O Christ, to-day; 
Hear, oh, hear us, while we pray; 
Grant thy blessing on this place, 
Send new witness of Thy grace. 

Here may worthy hope fulfilled 
Prove the rock on which we build; 
Its foundation all Thine own. 
All Thy truth its corner-stone. 

Here let sinners come and know 
Healing touch for every woe; 
Here let sacramental feast 
Feed the greatest and the least. 

Here let love forever reign. 
Every heart its source attain; 
Here let Bread of Life be given, 
And the path made plain to Heaven. 

Let each cross proclaim its joy, 
Shade of selfishness destroy; 
Show us how the life divine 
In the human still may shine. 

Thus shall His own Gospel speak, 
Save the erring, shield the weak; 
And our lives, in true accord, 
Find best service for our Lord. 



77 



EASTER HYMN 

T DO not ask Thee, Lord, to show 

A recompense for labor done; 
It is enough if I may know 

Some victory the hour has won. 

But oh, I ask Thee to reveal 

The upward way that leads to Thee! 
Whatever else Thy love conceal. 

This narrow path make plain to me. 

And firmly keep my feet therein. 
My hand in Thine, whate'er befall; 

One radiant hope without, within. 
Until the final summons call. 

Then will an Easter morn be mine, 
And only death be found to die; 

Love claiming life by power divine. 
And Christ Himself forever nigh. 



THANKSGIVING 

pOR all the good that life supplies, 

For all thy sovereign will denies. 
For mercies old and mercies new. 
For skies o'ercast and skies all blue, 
I thank Thee, Lord. 

For flowers that bloom along the way. 
Yielding the beauty of their day. 



78 



For thorns that with this beauty come, 
For all I get from shade and sun, 
I thank Thee, Lord. 

For laughter, and not less for tears, 
For disappointment, doubts, and fears, 
For all that gives the strength to grow 
In sympathy with others' woe, 
I thank Thee, Lord. 

For enemies who bid me see 
My weakness and infirmity. 
For friends who wound as well as bless. 
Increase life's joys, and share its stress, 
I thank Thee, Lord. 

For Bethlehem, for Gethsemane, 
For all the scenes of Calvary, 
For so much of the Christ in me 
As gives them perpetuity, 
I thank Thee, Lord. 

For all save sin; yea, even here 
How wondrous does Thy love appear! 
Without it should I ever know 
The fulness of love's overflow? 
I thank Thee, Lord. 

For those great souls who give to earth 
The secret of immortal birth. 
Who by their living light the way 
To glories of eternal day, 
I thank Thee, Lord. 



79 



For aspirations and desires, 
New born of pentecostal fires, 
And saying still, 'Believe in Me 
Through time and through eternity,' 
I thank Thee, Lord. 

For all of Nature sun-suffused 
With thought of Thee, and, rightly used. 
Setting the soul forever free 
To feel its own immensity, 
I thank Thee, Lord. 

For that great law by which the heart 
Discerns truth in the inward part. 
And knows itself to Thee allied. 
Thy love and wisdom verified, 
I thank Thee, Lord. 

For all that gift supreme, divine. 
By which men's deeds in splendor shine. 
The gift through which our souls may see 
He only lives who can thank Thee, 
I thank Thee, Lord. 

For all we reach but cannot grasp, 
For all the good we may not clasp. 
For sleep at last for tired eyes. 
And hopes beyond the day's sunrise, 
I thank Thee, Lord. 



So 



LIGHT AT EVENTIDE 

TF shadows overcast my morn, 

And clouds its sunlight hide, 
I only ask Thee, Lord, to send 
Thy light at eventide. 

Though storms still hide my sun at noon, 

And darkness yet abide, 
My soul submissive only pleads 

For light at eventide. 

And while I plead, I know, O Christ, 

If I am near Thy side, 
Life's storms will end in peace at last 

And light at eventide. 



COMMUNION WITH CHRIST 



I 



SOUGHT the star of Holy Night, 
But sought it on that lofty height 
Where angel hosts were led, 
Forgetful that its brightest rays 
Are always on life's lowliest ways 
With truest radiance shed. 

I found it not from earth afar, 
The light of this all sacred Star 

That leads, O Christ! to Thee; 
I saw it shine in human eyes. 
Made brighter by some sweet surprise 

Of^loving'sympathy! 



The cup of water for Thy sake, 

The wish to lighten hearts that ache, 

Reveal its light to me; 
But most I feel its radiant power 
When, in some silent, sacred hour. 

My heart communes with Thee. 



LOVE AND WORK 

'HpIS not alone to feel Thy love, 

Though sweet that love may be ; 

I ask Thee , Lord , to grant as well, 
True ways of serving Thee. 

Teach me to feel my daily task, 

A blessing from Thy hand ; 

Make me to hear, each day I live. 
Thy gospel's firm command . 

To work ere yet the night shall fall ; 

To find in work reward ; 
To know that whatsoe'er I do 

Is done for Thee, O Lord. 

And thus may love and work at last 
Win love and work for me , 

Where all who live in love are found 
With gladness serving Thee. 



THE CHRISTMAS GIFT 

'^J'OT what we get, but what we give, 

The Christmas blessing surely wins ; 
And most for him the Christ shall live 
Who now can say, ' I give my sins.' 



82 



MIZPAH 

T OVE struggles with a thousand fears, 

Sees dangers yet unseen ; 
Unmindful of the promise sweet, 
The Lord will watch between. 

Though all the space of earth divide, 

Oh, learn on Him to lean ; 
And hear His own voice say to thee, 

Thy Lord will watch between. 

He knows what absence means to love, 

He knows the sorrow keen, 
But gives Himself to those who trust, 

And He will watch between. 

In safety bring His own at last. 

Where face to face is seen 
The love that shelters and endures, 

Where nothing comes between. 



SCARS 

Che sought her dead on battlefield. 

Her king of many wars; 
And, finding him, she cried, ' 'Tis he, 
I know him by his scars.' 

O record of a soldier's fate. 

Whose light outshines the stars. 

When she who loved him best can say, 
'I know him by his scars !' 



83 



'Tis thus the Christian knows the King 
Whose glory nothing mars, 

Gazing at hands and feet and side, 
He knows Him by His scars. 

O happy we, if, serving Him 
Till death the door unbars, 

We merit then from lips Divine, 
' I know thee by thy scars !' 



THERE IS A STAR 

'The star, which they saw in the east, went before them.' 

'T^HERE is a star that lights my night. 

And whispers still of day. 
Keeps hope awake within my breast. 
And lights my lonely way. 

Without it, faith itself would fail. 
And love grow cold and chill ; 

It shines, and faith and hope and love 
My heart and being thrill. 

Within its light I see the King, 

As did the men of old, 
And all within its guiding ray. 

My eyes the Christ behold. 

O blessed star that leads to Him ! 

O holy, sacred light ! 
My soul looks up with reverent awe, 

And hails thee. Star of Night. 



84 



FUNERAL HYMN FOR A DISTINGUISHED 
CITIZEN 

'TpHE glory taken from our day, 

By grief transfixed, we scarce can pray ; 
Appear, O Lord, and by Thy word 
Heal wounds of one unconquered sword. 
O Master, Master of the night. 
Come, bid our sorrow find Thy light. 

This son of man was son of Thine ; 

We saw Thyself supremely shine 

In all his mighty heart revealed. 

While every deed for right appealed. 
O Master, Master of the night. 
Come, bid our sorrow feel Thy light. 

The titles that he won and wore 
Could only add and prove the more 
The matchless worth of one great name ; 
Thou madest him man, this crowned his fame. 
O Master, Master of the night. 
Come, bid our sorrows know Thy light. 

Here as above his grave we bow. 

Thou wilt, O Lord, our tears allow ; 

Nor wonder that we scare can pray. 

Such glory gone from out our day. 
O Master, Master of the night. 
Come, bid our sorrows show Thy light. 

GETHSEMANE 

r^ AGONY for human words too deep ! 

The Christ is calling, and His own do sleep! 
What earthly soul may not be now dismayed. 
When he to sinners' hands is thus betrayed ! 



8s 



THE BIRD IN THE BELFRY 

A BIRD in the belfry 

Soars and sings, soars and sings, 
While the bell for the bridal 
Rings and swings, rings and swings ; 
Cheerily now from his tiny throat 
His notes in a burst of rapture float, 
For the bird so high in the belfry tower 
Seems to feel the joy of the passing hour. 

The bird in the belfry 

Soars and sings, soars and sings ; 
But the bell in the belfry 

Tolls and swings, tolls and swings, 
And now I know this birdling gay 
Sings for himself the livelong day ; 
A hermit is he in the belfry tower. 
Tears or smiles have over him no power. 

O bird in the belfry ! 
Not like thee, not like thee, 

Does my heart in its music 
Ask to be, ask to be ; 

Its notes must smile if others are glad ; 

Its notes must weep if others are sad ; 

And sooner far would I weep with the crowd, 

Than sing alone on the fairest cloud. 



SERENITY 

Q BLESSING found in God-like soul ! 

At last I see how thou art won; 
The owner asks from earth no dole, 
Nor leaves an honest task undone. 



86 



o 



THE BARD'S EPITAPH 

(A hundred years after) 

NE sleeps below whom men call dead; 
A hundred 3^ears is what is said, 
If here aright the record's read 

On this cold stone; 
Yet, standing o'er this narrow bed. 
We hear men moan. 

Though mourning still, we meet to-day 
To wipe the old harsh word away; 
While sunbeams pause, amid their play. 

To claim their share, 
And laugh as though they too would say, 

'He is not there.' 

He lives wherever daisies bloom, 
Wherever hearts for Love have room. 
Where scentless earth takes on perfume 

For beauty's sake. 
And flowers fade not, nor consume 

The light they make. 

Wherever man to man is kin, 
And hate is felt the chiefest sin, 
Where God Himself, above earth's din, 

Proves right to reign. 
Because the lowliest He would win, 

And none disdain. 

Where discord turns to melody, 
And song to perfect harmony. 
Where verse includes humanity. 

He leads us still. 
And with the magic of his plea 

Makes strons: our will. 



'fc> 



87 



And where majestic common sense 
Its simple laws can best dispense, 
And couple faith with hope, intense 

For human need, 
We find him here without pretense, 

And learn his creed. 

Beloved Bard! in song like thine 
The world's immortal glories shine ; 
Oh, that we may like thee enshrine 

Our best pursuit, 
And hold the powers that still entwine 

Great Wisdom's root ! 



RUSSIA 

State 

^ MIGHTY figure chained to rock, 

A vulture feeding on its life ; 
The key that might the chain unlock 
Held by a fate that murders strife. 

Church 

The loaves and fishes, but no Christ ; 

Husks fed to living, hungry souls ; 
Hearts longing, yet by lust enticed. 

Of flesh the idol it enfolds. 

People 

As one who lifts her hands by night. 
Nor dares to raise them in the day. 

Knowing a woe the sun would blight, 
Yet stifled if by sun she pray. 



88 



DEAD LOVE 

npWO loves had I . Now both are dead, 

And both are marked by tombstones white. 
The one stands in the churchyard near, 
The other hid from any mortal sight. 

The name on one all men may read, 

And learn who lies beneath the stone ; 

The other name is written where 
No eyes can read it but my own. 

On one I plant a living flower, 

And cherish it with loving hands ; 

I shun the single withered leaf 

That tells me where the other stands. 

To that white tombstone on the hill 

In summer days I often go, 
From this white stone that nearer lies 

I turn me with unuttered woe. 

O God, I pray, if love must die, 

And make no more of life a part, 
Let witness be where all can see. 

And not within a living heart. 



EARTH'S REQUITAL 

A WEARY woman heard a people's praise ; 

All she had longed for freely now they gave. 
Alas ! they knew not that her saddened gaze 
Saw roses falling only in a grave. 



89 



CRADLE SONG 

Q SLEEP! with thy soft hand 

Touch thou my baby's brow; 
With thy soft kiss, O Sleep, 

Seal thou his eyelids now; 
Take him where quiet hours 

All peaceful blessings bring; 
Show him thy fairest scenes, 

Thy sweetest murmurs sing, 
O Sleep! thy murmurs sing 
To my king. 

If Heaven should ask my child, 

Dread fear my heart would fill; 
But, Sleep, I give to thee. 

Nor think, nor dream, of ill; 
Yet with thy restful love. 

From Heaven I know thou art. 
No other place could yield 

The good thou canst impart. 
O Sleep! thy murmurs sing 
To my king. 

Do thou while darkness reigns 

Lead him to realms of light ; 
Show him the land where day 

Is never lost in night ; 
Bring him from scenes like these 

Safe when the darkness flies. 
And Heaven I too shall see 

Deep in his radiant eyes. 
O Sleep ! thy murmurs sing 
To my king. 



90 



SONGS WITHOUT WORDS 

A MOTHER sings to her sleeping babe 

A lullaby soft and low; 
But deep in her heart she keeps a song 
That words can never know. 

For speech is shallow, and silence deep; 
What hearts feel most they cannot speak; 
And the sweetest songs we sing below 
Are those that words can never know. 

A lover brings to his waiting bride 

A message tender and true; 
But the song that wakens love to life 
No language ever knew 

For speech is shallow, and silence deep; 
What hearts feel most they cannot speak; 
And the noblest songs we sing below 
Are those that words can never know. 

A maiden kneels at a sacred shrine, 

Seeking a blessing meet; 
But the truest prayers that Heaven hears 
No human lips repeat. 

For speech is shallow, and silence deep; 
What hearts feel most they cannot speak; 
And the truest prayers we breathe below 
Are those that words can never know. 



LABOR'S GIFT 

T^O keep amid the storm the calm, 

To know in pain the safest peace, 
Seek not in ease a fancied balm. 

Nor ask from toil unwise surcease. 



91 



WRITTEN IN A COPY OF THE 
RUB Al TAT 

C\ SONG and Singer, that so well enshrine 

The quenchless longing for the life divine, 
The fears, the hopes, the struggles and the pain, 
The drink of water, when the soul asks wine, 

Who reads thee in the days of fleeting time, 
Must lose the deeper word within the line, 

The word that bids the song and singer live. 
And still forbids the melody decline. 

Ah well for him who can himself resign, 
To all that's ordered in the great Design, 
Nor questions as he presses bravely on, 
Content the Author shall his work define. 

Who asks not for an outward mark or sign, 

To scan the difference in the "Mine and Thine," 

Assured that when the river's link is reached 
The new to-morrow shall today out shine. 



MY LOST LYRIC 

TN dreamless sleep to me it came, 

It singing itself through heart and brain. 
My lyric with the nameless name, 
My lyric with the perfect strain. 

It sang itself, then fled afar, — 

I know not where, I know not how, 

I only know like wandering star 

It came and went, but it is not now. 



92 



Ah fleeting words, ye left with me 
A message that still pulses deep, 

For in your phantom ecstasy 
I found a promise I may keep. 

And thus my nameless lyric sings, 
It lives and sings although 'tis gone; 

Its memory a whisper brings 
Of fairer worth than all my song. 

MID-WINTER WINDS 
In Memoriam 

pRINCE of the Father's House, thy spirit knew 

The beam that lights and feeds the morning 
ray 

With holy message of Celestial day, 
That brings to earth its own exalted view 
Of regions where the psalms of peace subdue 

The stress of doubt and fear ; where prayers 
allay 

The pains of love, and show the heart the way 
To that high Joy He gives His favored few. 

Yet conscious of the glories Death hath crowned 
I weep amid the leafless boughs this hour. 

And hear the sobbing of an inward wound, 
Mourning the absence of thy noble dower ; 

Know less the calm of changeless Deity, 

Apart from Him because less near to Thee. 

THE NEW YEAR 

r^NCE more my hands a jewel bear ; 

No mark is on its surface fair, 
But deep within its heart I see 
A single word — Eternity. 



93 



MADISON AT SUNSET 
Q MADISON: the Beautiful, 

Sweet dream of all that's fair, 
Thy gem like lakes, thy dimpled hills, 

The peace thy valleys wear 
By day the Sun with happy glance, 

Dwells lovingly with thee. 
By night the Stars thy charms enhance, 
The Moon adds Majesty. 

But who that sees thy skies at eve, 

And watches Day depart. 
Fails in that hour one hope to weave. 

Like rose bloom in the heart, 
Or plainly hear, like thee, aright 

Great Nature's undertone, 
And in thy power of Beauty's light 

Desire to keep his own. 

BEAUTY IN NATURE 
I 

V^AS all this beauty made for man alone. 

Are there no other eyes that view these 
scenes, 
No ears to know what ''unheard music" 
means, 
Receiving harmonies by Seraphs blown? 
No hand save ours to cull the wild flowers sown 
So freely on these hillsides and ravines, 
Yea, on the rock where dreaming shadow 
leans. 
Or, wakeful, guards yon sunbeam turned to stone. 

Our eyes are holden, and the larger light 
Shall not be won, 'till safe across the night 
Of death we pass, and contemplate the morn, 
Where all earth's subtler mysteries are born; 

94 



Oh that at last it may be mine to know 

The sacred hopes that from these visions flow. 

II 
Perchance it may be then vouchsafed to see 

Some thought embodied, long in pain sup- 
pressed 

Some lofty purpose in a noble breast, 
Tasting at last the poet's ecstasy, 
And conscious of its own supremacy; 

Some holy aspiration here addressed 

To One Great Being, by the soul confessed 
In moment of sublime capacity. 

If nature can our highest longings take 
And thus transform, bidding a spirit wake 
In whom they live and people this fair world, 
Or show some deeper message here unfurled, 
Then may the poet's heart defy neglect. 
Nor feel the woe of earthly efforts wrecked. 

Ill 

Perhaps a lifted veil might here reveal 

Familiar faces of the long ago. 

Eyes downward bent upon the paths below, 
Fond hands outstretched in warning or appeal. 
And thus a power mysterious bid us feel. 

Although we saw not, neither could we know, 

How a soft answer has its inward flow, 
How gain and guidance o'er our senses steal. 

Surely to scenes like these the Good may cling, 
And to beloved spirits blessing's bring. 
Knowing a Higher Life the more secure. 
If they but keep earth's altars true and pure; 
And where could holy message sound so clear, 
Or human heart be more inclined to hear. 



95 



THE COLOR LINE 

(^REAT Heart of Love, on Thee we call 

In this so baleful hour; 
Forgive its record! Lest we fall 
Beneath an angry power. 

Thy Son's best gift has been betrayed, 

Our love for Him denied; 
Our lips in falsehood now degrade 

The prayer He sanctified. 

For did not He *'Our Father" say? 

Uniting all to Thee; 
Shall it be ours to curse one day 

Defaming this. His plea? 

Who dare say "Our" and yet deny 

Its right to any soul! 
The right that makes my sister's cry 

As sacred as my own. 

O God, so bid me know Thy grace, 

I dare say unto Thee, 
When Thou from her canst turn Thy Face, 

Thou turnst it, too, from me. 

Where she's denied, how can I go, 
How can I there find Thee? 

And where she is, my love must show, 
How Heaven is won for me. 



96 



SONNETS 



MAN AND NATURE 
I 
(^REAT Nature keeps her final harmony; 

It speaks in distant sun, in simplest flower, 
As though through all some spirit did embower 
With light and love its own intensity. 
Or guard, unchanged, some inner melody. 
Where life to life reveals a priceless dower, 
That, interblending, gives to earth the power 
To make a perfect whole in unity. 

In sympathy with this, the soul receives 

Her share, and answers clearly joy for joy; 
Alas! not so with man. The spirit grieves, 
Finding how he his fellow man pursues; 
How man for man can every trace destroy 
Of the great link he should be last to lose. 

II 

War, rapine, murder, lust, oppression, pain, 

These and their thousand ills inclusive are 
In the foul lists that do so grimly mar. 

Or leave upon God's work its darkest stain. 

Forcing a living death without death's gain, 

The night of earth without its moon or star, 
The things that keep Hell near and Heaven 
afar, — 

O God! how long, how long must these remain? 

'Some soul of goodness in things evil lies,' 

One said, who knew of earth the worst, the best; 
Yet even his so all-revealing eyes. 

Yea, even his all-pleading human prayer. 
But deepens to our thought one bitter quest. 
Nor lightens for our hearts one deep despair 



99 



Ill 

Another spoke with love-illumined sight; 

But all the burdened birthright of His soul 

Won Him at last a thorn-pierced aureole; 
Yet from His far enfranchised gaze the light 
Still streams, and with its deathless, potent might 

Pervades the darkness, that without would 
roll 

And in some quenchless horror steep the 
whole; 
With denser fold injure and mar the Right. 

Is God less God because these things are so; 

Or shall He from the abysmal womb of Time 
Bring forth some seed to work their overthrow? 
The seed is in ourselves; if here it fail 
To yield its fruitage, want its perfect prime. 
The gates of Hell against us must prevail. 

CECIL RHODES 

XT NIGHT errant of a day too long delayed! 
Whilst thou from royal soul revealest now 
A Light that covers all thou canst endow 

With Gift the gods do not permit to fade ; 

Shall it be ours to ask that it persuade 
The Star born beam, Death placed upon thy brow. 
To be the fair renown to which we bow 

When Love to life its last recital made? 

Wake Mighty One ! and hear our louder praise. 

We chant it whenso'er we say thy name. 

Speak it! It holds imperial Rights of fame, 
Guards well the Power that gives immortal days, 
Keeps down the sob of nature, makes men dear. 
And stands for Ruler, Poet, Priest, and Seer. 



I CO 



DAWN 

I 
r^NCE more the miracle is wrought on high; 

Light breaks; the east a speechless glory wears; 
A bride resplendent comes, as one who bears 
The symbol of a love that cannot die 
For her the emblazoned splendor of the sky 

Makes pale the stars; and peaceful night now 

dares 
Question her peace, as one who unawares 
Discerning strength not theirs, ends breath with 
sigh. 

And yet, O Dawn! perchance thou art to-night 

A golden ending, not a bride to morn. 

Whiche'er it be, thy unheard melody 

Fills all the world; while to our upturned sight 

The Unseen Hand that can thy light adorn 

Guards well the sacred secret hid in thee. 

II 

And, gazing thus, I think of those who wait 

For thee with longing heart and weary brain; 
Of lonely watchers by the couch of pain; 

Of those for whom thy glory comes too late; 

Of some in prison cells, waiting their fate; 

Of some who look from clouded eyes, and strain 
To catch some meaning that may yet contain 

A glimpse beyond, and all its hope translate. 

And so through all thy beauty comes earth's moan, 
Its restlesness, its long repressed desire, 

The mournful witness of an undertone 

That saddens hearts however they aspire; 

O Thou who canst from night all shade divest, 

Send Thou Thy Dawn to souls that are oppressed. 

lOl 



TO THE OLD YEAR 
I 
Coon with the multitudes thou too shalt sleep; 

Would I dare hope no day of thine would rise, 

In ghostly semblance come, without disguise, 
To haunt the senses, and in anguish steep 
The soul, that it some cruel past may reap; 

See the false seeming, fair to outward eyes; 

Hear the stilled moaning, that yet never dies, 
But feeds to fulness thoughts for tears too deep. 

Such hope is vain; then Death has one sting less; 
P^or who can count the years in happiness 
Secure in this, and in this woe alone. 
That ever each must add unto life's moan? 
If time to come keeps this in memory nigh, 
Let God be kind, and let death mean — to die! 

II 

What poisoned chalice to my lips finds way 

That thus I utter thoughts so dread with fear. 
The hope defy that is of all most dear. 

Shut fast the door to all that bids men pray? 

Thus make a sword of life to pierce the ray 
Of righteousness, thus stand in sad arrear 
With all that brings the wished-for succor near. 

The balm destroy that can such wounds allay? 

To barter thus with life is death indeed, 

A living death that only demons feed; 

Oh, rather let imagination bring 

The shining glory and the choirs that sing! 

Unless great faith, thus crowned, have perfect sway, 

The soul is dead, and man but breathing clay. 



I03 



Ill 

Up, then, O Soul ! arise, and bring to earth 
The shining glory and the singing choir; 
Though it be legend framed of man's desire, 

Yet is it witness of immortal birth; 

Let gloomy doubt and fear give place to mirth, 
Let loyal hope the song of joy inspire. 
With angel musings touch anew the lyre, 

And thine own vision Heaven itself engirth. 

Thus as the old year passes into night, 
Look up to find your stars securely bright, 
And in the new day see the sun appear 
As full of splendor, and with beam as clear, 
As though no darkness intervened to say 
'Behold how night is still the tomb of day.' 



EASTER 



H 



AD I been with the two who walked that day 
As on the road to Emmaus He passed. 
Their thoughts bewildered, and wild shades fell 
fast, 
Their eyes yet holden to the star-lit way. 
Should I, near home, have asked Him then to stay. 
And as He broke the bread discern at last 
The Christ, or, when aside all fear was cast. 
Receive the Easter blessing as did they? 

Oh, question not, faint heart, but find Him there ; 
The road is open and He walks it still ; 
Hears human love yet whisper all its plea, 
Sends Holy Spirit when it breathes its prayer ; 
With Easter light will evening shadows fill, 
And, while abiding, break His bread with thee. 



103 



WINTER 
I 
\X/1NTER, with all thy glorious majesty, 

And partnership with Spring, whose trust- 
ful sleep 
Thou guardest that she may thy vigil reap, 
And prove the fulness of thy harmony, 
Amid thy most tempestuous gales I see 

How like a sovereign thou cans't hold and keep 
Not Spring alone, but Summer's promise deep, 
And covered with a robe of purity. 

'T is fitting season for thy birthday, Love; 

It symbolizes all thy strength and power; 
Yet is there in my soul one light above 

All that its patient wisdom can embower; 
For here the Spring and Summer's fruitage meet, 
And thus a triple song of praise repeat. 

II 

The Autumn with its splendor, it remains, 
Chanting its message of supreme uplift; 
Has it no portion in thy radiant gift, 

Showing its beauty and its well won gains? 

Yes, yes, this too in glory lives and reigns 
Within thy heart, whoscj inner currents drift 
Where one great HearL doth all their meaning 
sift, 

Rejoicing in the strength thy life attains. 

From thence, beloved, with His glance divine 
Resting upon the good thy days enshrine. 
Even as it rests on Autumn ac its height, 
Illuming all things with enriching light, 
This, this, in love thou dost on me bestow, 
And prove His power in sovereign overflow. 



104 



TO CYNTHIA 

A S when at eve the moon in splendor shines 
Upon a cloud, and forms a halo there, 
Within its lambent and caressing air, 

And thus in warmth its light incarnadines, 

And when such visions all the soul inclines 
To pause, and whisper an impassioned prayer. 
As though it saw beyond the scene so fair. 

The deeper glow that Seraphim enshrines, — 

Thus, O my Moon, thy love falls on my heart. 
And there creates the halo and the gleam. 
The azure loveliness, the silent thought 
That does to prayer such sacredness impart. 
As from thyself I feel the placid beam 

That is with holiness and peace enwrought. 



THE MESSAGE OF THE ROSE 

A MONG the flowers, — where all are found so fair, 
'^ So beautiful, one, more than all the rest. 

Is swayed and held by Beauty's high behest 
Breathing to every wind and passing air, 
A loveliness complete beyond compare. 

Supplying to the heart's continued quest, 
A satisfaction born of what is best. 
Awaking thought of vision still more rare 

O flower, go! and tell to her I prize, 
That when I liken her to thee, I know 

Of depths within her deep and lustrous eyes. 
Of glories hidden where her virtues glow, 

That cannot fade as thou, nor know the days 

When Love shall cease, or fail to sing her praise 



105 



EVENING ON LAKE MONONA 

npHE summer's affluent beauty crowns the night: 
Flowers and fragrance are on every side; 
The moon, arising as a joyous bride, 
The water seeks and chastens with love's light; 
While happy souls, enraptured with the sight. 
Find here no human sense its best denied; 
Entrancing melodies on soft airs glide, 
And hearts reponsive hold the vision bright. 

If types we get in this fair world of ours, 
Dim foretaste of the good that is to be. 

Then surely does the charm this night embowers 
Feed deep the longing for eternity: 

For still the only pang its hours can send 

Is the sad consciousness that it must end. 



MOUNT DESERT 

V\/'ITHIN her island home she sits enthroned. 
Imperial mistress of earth's fairest dower. 
All held and swayed with a resistless power; 
No beauty that the world can give disowned, 
The skies' entrancing splendor freely loaned 

To mountain, sea, and shore, each fleeting 

hour. 
While she its larger good can still embower. 
And hear its grander melodies intoned. 

Fair Empress, when within thy temple gates 
Thy glory to my soul one thought translates; 
And, gazing on thy scenes, God's 'Very good,' 
Becomes the more completely understood ; 
I feel secure the hope He had in man. 
Since He for man's possession thus could plan. 



?o6 



DANTE 
TF more, like thee, who into hell descend, 

Could bring its mighty meanings back to men. 

Proclaiming them with trumpet tone, and pen 

Dipped in heart's blood, with echoing moans that 

rend 
The lifeless air, show horrors that attend 

Sin's punishment, — oh, would some sunrise 

then 
Clear off the stagnant waters of life's fen ? 
To shaded way some surer signal lend? 

Something that should withstay the wavering feet 
Before they too the Charon passage meet, 
And reach the sou) that struggles to be freed. 
Answering to the cry of human need ? 
Ah, Poet wise, if message like thine own 
Be not enough, the heart is turned to stone. 

THE BIRTHDAY OF BURNS 
(^F what avail are birthdays unto thee, 
O poet of the fadeless life and song ! 
Our earthly years can but thy youth prolong. 
And death from death did only set thee free. 
Exchanging earth bonds for God's liberty ; 

Naught can Time steal, and in naught can he 

wrong, 
For Love and Time build only to make strong 
The temple that resounds thy minstrelsy. 

But if our lives should bring some truer tone 

Caught from the music of thy mighty heart. 

That never could one human cry disown. 
That felt itself of every pulse a part. 

If this were ours to offer year by year. 

Eyes were less holden when The Christ is near. 



107 



BESIDE A POET'S GRAVE 
T^OES the true melody thy life controlled, 

Find sweeter echo in some happier sphere, 
A music of the heart you know not here? 
Do seraphs whisper strains to earth untold, 
Or show to thee where melodies behold 

Their birth? And to thy raptured ear 
Bring consolation that can banish fear, 
Laden with songs their joys alone unfold? 

All may be thine. Yet standing here to-day, 
I think if still thy lips have power to pray, 
I hear them plead for strength to labor on 
In the home path made sacred by thy song. 
For what hath God Himself to guard or care 
Thou would'st not wish thy fellow men to share. 

OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES 

November, 1894. 
'^^OT dead, not even sleeping is he now, 

Our honored bard, whom all our race reveres; 
In true and fuller glory he appears, 
A crown of his own sunshine on his brow. 
Transfigured is he on the Mount. We bow, 

Catching from there his smile. See what en- 
dears 
With clearer vision. Banish thence the fears; 
Feel with new zest his charm each sense endow. 

Then, coming back from this celestial height, 
With chilling thought that earth has something 

lost, 
We now recall, that air that's tinged with frost 

Still makes the rosy flush of dawn more bright. 

Dawn-like, O Master, was thy gift while here, 

Dawn-like we keep it till the day appear. 

108 



WORDSWORTH 
T IKE some great mountain peak wherefrom the 
^ day 

Proclaims the sun, or where at mellow eve 

He lingers dreamful, while our eyes perceive 
An aureole, as though angels knelt to pray; 
And restful as the quiet paths that stray 

About the mountain's base, where flowers in- 
weave 

Their garments, and the summer breezes leave 
Their sighs, when all earth's tumults die away. 

Like all things lofty, always lowly wise. 
Divine in simpleness, in reach sublime, 
A reverence so great for Nature's wound 
As owns its love, and thus earth's ill defies. 
Or learns through ill Olympian heights to climb, 
With heart attuned to every thought profound. 



KEATS 

DY sun-swept harmonies thy song was fed, 
O poet of the music-moving strain. 
Rising to ecstasy above life's pain. 

And dwelling where all hymnic beauty led; 

Hyperion to thee in his chariot sped; 

He robed thee in a garment without stain. 
Embroidered with the lilies of the plain. 

And wove a crown of glory for thy head. 

All this life gave thee. What did death secure? 
A name in water writ, fair, clear and pure, 
Jewelled in loveliness, crystalled in tears. 
Flashing its rainbow light across the years; 
In hearts that live, a record and a place 
The waters of the earth cannot efface. 



109 



WASHINGTON 

TN all the land one object I behold; 

A lofty height with pure and spotless crest, 
Always snow-crowned, yet too near heaven for cold, 

The sunlight ever finding there its rest; 
Within its great heart mighty streams are born, 
And onward flow, through valleys hushed from 
strife, 
Their touch awakening flowers that adorn 

Wide, fertile plains, where all things tell of life. 

Toward it the weak may turn, and learn aright 
The strength and courage that can fearless be 

In face of storm severe, by day, by night, 
Serene and strong 'mid all adversity. 

O Good and Great! the mount is type of thee. 

Who lived and taught the Freedom that makes free. 



LINCOLN 

TN all the heaven one object holds my gaze, 

Compelling witness of a reverent heart. 
And ever, as I look, increased amaze 

That mighty soul does to my soul impart. 
It bids me see in every clime and race 

The common bond that makes the world akin, 
To find the fatherhood in every face; 

To feel the love that brotherhood should win. 

With malice none — with charity for all, 
It led a nation in its darkest hour, 

As though in silence it heard but the call 

Of Him who sent His own divinest power. 

O Son of sons! all time to come will scan 

Thy wondrous soul and cry, "Behold the Man!" 



no 



LUCEUS FAIRCHILD 

l-J E gave us that which is not bought or sold, 

Nor seemed to know the measure of his gift, 
Nor how its wondrous bounty could uplift, 

And into nobler manhood make and mould; 

Thus did his greatness and his heart enfold 

All human need, and still without unthrift 
Expend; taking no thought to weigh or sift 

All that in each less friendly eyes behold. 

Earth gives her types of all that is to be 

Eternal in its worth unto the soul; 
In him we saw the perfect symmetry 

That harmonizes and suggests the whole; 
But in his friendship rare we felt the spring 
Of every good that earth and time can bring. 



HORACE HOWARD FURNESS 

After hearing him read one of Shakespeare's dramas. 

Come seasons come to human life and thought 
That build 'great bases for eternity;' 
That leave an unimagined melody 

Sounding from mountain tops before unsought; 

And when such gift unto the soul is brought, 
Through well-appointed human ministry, 
Then has it new increase of sanctity. 

And keeps itself henceforth in life enwrought. 

'Tis so it comes when Nature, one with Art, 
Finds true interpreter in poet's heart; 
All fair 'mid-summer glory now is theirs. 
While each its royal wedding garment shares; 
Thus is the Eucharistic feast supplied, 
And the great Master's labor glorified. 



Ill 



ONE WHOSE TRICE IS ABOVE RUBIES' 

Ay, priceless above all that earth bestows, 

Companion, mother, counsellor, and friend, 
On whom the angels day by day descend. 
To bring the blessing whose enchanting glow 
Lights all the good thy loved ones share and know; 
Through thee we learn how God to earth doth 

send 
Those gifts that with His own great nature 
blend. 
And how the earth-life gives them place to grow; 

We see a deeper meaning in the line 
'The Lord is with thee,' as His soul divine 
Leads us with thee to many a sacred feast, 
Where thine own heart discerns of want the least. 
And thine own whisper wins from Eye benign 
The glance that changes water into wine. 

A HUMAN HAND 

TT made and unmade destinies of men, 
Built and destroyed the monuments of Time, 
Pointed the path where worthy thought sublime 

Finds voiceful form in prayer and deed and pen; 

Brought light and peace to captive souls, and then 
Removed the darkness of a buried clime; 
Kept poet-heart awake in deathless rhyme. 

Clasped love as father, friend, and citizen. 

As cold in death we hold it in our own. 

We ask our hearts, Where now its noble life? 
The answer comes above its dust to-day, — 
Ruling a kingdom from earth's loftiest throne, 
For here, beyond all cavil, toil, or strife. 
It keeps and guards all that it gave away. 



1X3 



TO THE MORNING GLORY 

In royal vesture clad to greet the sun, 

The Dawn in love beholds thee, gentle flower. 
And adds unto thy heritage her dower, 

As though renewing vows for favors won. 

Oh, did she say to thee, thy life begun. 
It still should be thy glory to embower 
The lowliest spot with beauty's fadeless power. 

Content to leave it all when day is done? 

All things their Morning keep awhile, as thou. 
But unto thee in all thy modest light 
Is given symbol of a nobler right, — 
No Morrow hast thou, and no Yesterday ; 
Who would not wish to live like thee, and pray 

For place like thine in the Eternal Now. 



IN ABSENCE 

r^ DAYS in sunlit land, from home so far, 

Onedayamongye marks my dear Love's birth, 
A feast day in my heart, without its mirth, 

Since absence must my fairest visions mar. 

Obscure my sunrise, and my evening star, 

Leave wistful, eastward glance o'er all the earth. 
And whisper to my heart a present dearth 

That furrows deep one baleful, paining scar. 

Beloved, as I mourn I turn to thee. 

Strong in thine uncomplaining constancy; 

Nothing can separate the soul from soul. 

And Love may birthday keep, complete and whole. 

Yea, holy, — but it cannot banish space, 

It finds me sobbing for one well-loved face. 



113 



SILENCE 
npHOU dost touch us in life's profoundest hours, 
Kiss us in moments of exalted need, 
Caress us closest when we, voiceless, heed 
The gifts that are enshrouded in thy powers. 
Portion of God ! Thy softened light embowers, 
Yea, holds the open door, whose portals lead 
Wherever thought enshrines itself in deed. 
Where birth and death bear their enfranchised 
dowers. 

Yet yielding art thou most to breath of love. 
It is in thee it finds eternal bloom 

(With Love and Silence what may we not 
know!) 
'T is Love at last finds thee a sheltering dove. 
And, nestling in thy wings, in vaster room. 
Goes with thee fearless whither thou dost go. 

TO A MOTHER 

Who wrote under her children's picture ' These are my 
Poems' 

VEA, poems to immortal beauty born 

Are thine, O mother beautiful and fair, 
Verse written by God's hand, in witness rare, 

Of all that may His deeper thought adorn. 

To prove the freshness of celestial morn ; 

They unto thee His whispered message bear 
In ways with which no other can compare, 

Are never unto lover's heart outworn. 

This is the poetry that never dies. 
But to the heart undying song supplies. 
That makes the barren place produce the rose, 
And unto love its secrets best disclose. 
Giving to human face the Father's light. 
And to His praise our lesser strains unite. 

114 



TO A FRIEND 

Who sent a vase of roses 

npO what have I not likened thee, O friend ? 

To the blest sunbeam that secures the day, 
To placid loveliness of moonlit ray. 
To all that Nature and God's love doth send 
To guard life's sacred portals, and defend 

The soul's best hope ; to hour when angels 

pray. 
To tranquil lights that fiercest storms allay ; 
To those who on Christ's * little ones ' attend. 

And now thy gracious gift adds one thing more 
Unto my heart's already bounteous store ; 
Thy restful beauty fallen on the rose 
Makes every flower a dearer life disclose ; 
Ah, the Eternal Soul breathes deep in thee. 
And all things fair reflect thy ministry. 

TO THE AUTHOR OF SONGS OF NIGHT 
JND DAT 
tlOW does the poet aught of night reveal ? 
Is it not ever day deep in his heart ? 
Has not some portion of its light a part 
And place within his soul naught can conceal ? 
Yea, from the night itself does he not steal 

A beam as sure and strong as lightning dart 
That bids the deepest sign of darkness start, 
The purest ray of vision own and feel ? 

Ay, noble poet of the Song of Night, 

The day is thine, it shines in every thought, 

All luminous, and like a summer's light 

When it with beauty of the morn is wrought ; 

Or if the night is touched by thee it glows, 

The radiance of eternal starlight shows. 



TO A BEAUTIFUL CHILD 

A LL love's religion, with its light and quest, 

Should now be mine, to sing thy praises, dear ; 
For all that is of worth came with you here ; 
Great Nature gave her truest and her best, 
Her own praise singing at thy sweet behest, 
Bestowing every good afar or near, 
Yea, yielding without shadow of a fear 
All beauties born in her great-hearted breast. 

If then my pen could catch one dimpling smile. 
Keep but one glance of thy so-lustrous eyes. 
Seize one stray gleam of gold from out thy 
hair. 
And weave into its verse thyself the while. 

The world would then read on in glad surprise. 
And praise would then be mine beyond com- 
pare ! 

THE PROMISE 
'T^HE sunset falls upon the land to-night. 

With all its wonted splendor, joy, and peace, 
No whisper that the glow can ever cease 
In one fair hope concealed within its light ; 
The stars appear, and on the heavens write 

An added promise, with the day's release ; 
And thus the darkness can itself increase 
The faith that lives behind all human sight. 

Yet, standing near thy new-made grave, O friend. 
It is not from these scenes I gain in trust ; 

If this were all, my heart must still attend 

The sentence, ' Earth to earth and dust to 
dust ' ; 

But, thinking of thy soul, through all the space 

I hear, *Thy servants. Lord, shall see Thy face.' 

ii6 



TO THE TEACHER ON HIS BIRTHDAY 

T ET other men count time by days, by years, 
To thee belongs another, grander way, 
And one that shall more fittingly obey 

The high command of all that life reveres. 

Count it by the memory that endears, 

Thy labor ; by the heart throbs that so sway 
Our pulses, as we meet round thee to-day, 

And own a gratitude 'too deep for tears.' 

We count it by the seed thy work has sown, 
We mark it on that radiant vesture wrought 
To bury ignorance, and seal its tomb ; 
We read it where great wisdom rears her throne. 
And in the majesty of that fair thought 

That makes the barren place know fadeless 
bloom. 

THE EDUCATOR 

T^HERE are those kings whom men in state still 
crown 

With earthly trappings of great pomp and might ; 

The dazzling fashion of a day's delight. 
Subject alike to unearned smile and frown ; 
And there are those who claim not earth's renown, 

Yet wear it with an all unconscious right; 

Yea, crowned and glorified, in all men's sight. 
They bear aloft a torch no seas can drown. 

For these, by sovereign gift from King of kings. 
Know the full meaning of the Voice that said 
' Let there be light ; ' are by its choral led. 

And, climbing heights where its best mandate rings, 
Bid those who follow see the vision blest. 
Until within God's hand their own is pressed 



117 



BACCALAUREATE SUNDAY 
T^AREWELL ! your heart to mine conveys the 
^ thrill 

Of restless thought, of new untried desires ; 

The sun itself has not more burning fires, 
Or seeks the more a purpose to fulfil 
Than ye, who with youth's strength and dauntless 
will, 

Look longingly toward noon ; see distant spires 

Answering to music of celestial choirs. 
Your fair hope faithful to its promise still. 

Oh, reverently go, as into vale 

Sacred to rising day ! With rainbow light 

Its storms illume ! Touch firm and sure the 
sod 
Of earth ; yet towering heights beyond assail 
And win ! Make darkness by your being bright, 
And prove yourselves in partnership with God. 

EMPEROR AND MARTYR 

TN purple and fine linen, Caesar stands; 

Imperial power in gesture, v/ord, and tone. 
In beauty like a God upon a throne, 

Though nothing Godlike breathes in his com- 
mands. 

Before him one in prison garb, whose sands 
Are nearly run, now doomed to go alone 
To fearful death; and though he makes no moan, 

His moaning followers weep in many lands. 

The first knew all that earthly pomp can give, 
The other suffered all that life bestows; 

To whom belongs the truest right to live? 

Which name with greater influence o'erflows? 

Each called of God, — how did each meet His call, 

The Emperor Nero, and the martyr Paul? 

ii8 



WASHINGTON'S BIRTHDAY 
npIMES are there in our land when the great 
^ gift, 

By the world's heroes striven for and won, 

Seems by the lust of vandals quite undone; 
When Liberty herself cannot uplift 
The seething mass of fetid soils that drift, 

And make the darkness plain upon her sun; 

Thus fear and doubt our hope assail; we shun 
Our faith, or cry 'Come, Lord, with vengeance 

swift!' 

O Mighty Leader! then we think of thee, 

Fearless in that dread hour that saw no light, 
We hear thy sovran voice, with Saviour tone, 
And now, such strength hath thy sublimity. 
We see the cloud's true meaning from thy height, 
And find thy presence still on Freedom's throne. 

THE ARTIST 

TS it to toil with cunning hand and brain 
To make a canvas live, a picture speak. 
The master's touch reveal, or, failing, seek 

By stronger effort to change loss to gain ? 

Or is it still to labor to obtain 

Some dazzling prize, that, like a lofty peak. 
Sun-crowned, but tends to make the gazer 
meek. 

By proving heights he cannot yet attain ? 

'Tis well to struggle ; noble to aspire ; 

Though art is long, and life too swiftly sped, 
For longing souls with but one high desire 

Are from divinest sources surely fed ; 
But he is artist, teacher, and high priest. 
Who, in revealing self, supplies a feast. 



119 



A GOLDEN WEDDING 

COMETHING of Eden's golden hour remains 
Our earth to bless. 'Tis found in golden 

days, 
When beauty adds to light a softened haze, 

Revealing all our universe contains 

As though it were a bride, whose blushing gains 
A deeper charm because her blush betrays 
To Love love's secret, while her artless ways 

Beguile his sense and win his sweetest strains. 

But holy is this golden hour when found 
In human lives made beautiful by years 

Of faithful love, and two true hearts are bound 
As one, with service each to each endears; 

For such may golden bells of earth resound. 
And Heaven's smile at last replace earth's tears. 



LOVE'S YOUTH 

T SAW two walking in a forest glade 

At set of sun ; a man and woman, bent 
With age; the fading light a glory lent 

To all things, and for them a halo made. 

Behind them came two lovelier forms, arrayed 
In garb of long ago ; a maiden sent 
Of God to walk beside a youth, prevent 

The earth-soil, keep serene and undismayed. 

The aged, turning, saw the vision, knew 

It was themselves, fair shadows of the past ; 

Saw through old eyes life's chrism and its dew ; 
Felt the old charm that can its source outlast, 

Then said, ' 'Tis outward, it can only flee ; 

*Our youth is safe in Love's Eternity.' 



LOVE'S POWER 

T OVE seeks in myriad ways to prove the power 
Of love ; it searches earth and air and sky 
For one fair object that will typify 
Its matchless and imperishable dower ; 
And though it fail love's glory to embower, 

Since naught that lives can with its essence vie, 
Yet is it sweet to let some tribute lie, 
As lies the dewdrop on the breast of flower. 

Beloved, like a star that crowns the night, 
Dissolving in transparence all the gloom, 

Serenely proving an unfailing light, 

Whose mystic strength all shadows can illume, 

Oh, this is like thy helpfulness to me ! 

If aught is worth, it has its birth in thee. 



WHERE LOVE IS THERE IS HARMONY 

pULL cadence falls not on the human ear; 

Some discord mingles ever with the strain; 

The melody we hoped we might attain 
Eludes us, even when it seems most near; 
The note of Hope ends in the sigh of Fear; 

The perfect is by imperfection slain; 

The vulgar hind can highest good arraign. 
Till faith lies buried in an open bier. 

All this I thought, until one day Love came. 
And lighted all my path with gorgeous flame; 
The discord now in melody is lost, 
All fear unto the passing wind is tost; 
He makes such music in my soul for me, 
I own the fountain of life's harmony. 



TO THE MADONNA 
I 
Wl HAT thoughts were in thy heart, O Maiden 
^ ^ fair, 

When that full message from the angel came, 
That should bestow on thee earth's greatest 
name? 
What strength and faith didst thy young soul up- 
bear? 
On what transfiguring height didst thou breathe air 
That steadied thee, facing thy matchless fame, 
Or, gazing into heaven with thy new claim, 
Didst thou behold from earth some vision rare? 

Ah! sweet it is to know thee, woman still, 
One yielding simply to the Father's will. 
Serenely walking ways of woe and strife. 
Nor yet beholding all the hidden life. 
But conscious whatsoever way is trod. 
The son of man is also Son of God. 

ri 

All restful, too, that in His time and place. 

Thou shalt in peace all wished-f or blessing share, 
His diadem of truest beauty wear, 
And read the record years do not erase. 
Not seeking what the Unseen Power shall trace, 
As thou for ministry of life hast care. 
Sublimely sure no failure can impair 
The angel message, or its worth efface. 

And when the hour at Cana comes to thee. 
Refulgent in its star-crowned majesty. 
So gentle is thy softly whispered prayer, 
Thy Son alone can all its import bear. 
Revealing unto Him the woman's soul 
Christ-like in its compassionate control. 



FORGIVENESS 

npO eye of sense a vision unsurpassed, 

A beauty filling earth and sky and air ; 
The glory of the summer everywhere, 
Flood, forest, field, and flower, in splendor massed ; 
Within, a gift whose blessings must outlast 
All earthly scenes ; a bond of love so rare 
It could alone make barren places fair. 
Keep clear the skies though darkest hour o'ercast. 

And yet in presence of all this to-day, 
I feel and know an agony and pain 

Akin to hell. 'Twas here I wronged a soul. 
Can all the beauty of the world unsay 
The word that stings like scorpions now, or gain 
From lips of dead the peace that maketh whole ? 

LINCOLN 

'He had no poetn' in him.' 

Recent newspaper item. 
TIJOW dull must be the heart that so believes 

Of thee, who kept unsoiled the Poet's heart, 
Until to deeds thou didst its words impart. 
Though with unconscious strength it naught per- 
ceives 
Of all that it in silence thus receives, 

Yet sends it into life like lightning dart, 
Still bidding its divinest rhythm start 
When it some nobler cause of Justice pleads. 

Sublimely tuned, and answering chord for chord. 
In that great melody that moves the earth 

To all that is by lofty soul adored. 
Proving best title to the larger birth. 

Great Thinker ! who from deepest music brought 

The Poet's deed, the Man's immortal thought. 



123 



LOVE'S GIFT 
1-^ELOVED, thou hast led me to Love's height, 
And shown me all the worlds his heart con- 
trols, 
The breathless wonder of His touch on souls. 
The fresh Apocalypse that is His right; 
The dawn that follows upon starless night 
To longing eyes no sight so blest unfolds, 
For thy gift in its very being holds 
The prayer-sought land where God Himself is light. 

Yet high above this gift I value this. 

That thou hast been its bearer unto me, 
The God-Light has the truer, firmer sway, 
Imparts more fulness of unfailing bliss 
In that within its rays I dwell with thee, 
And share the greater splendor of its way. 

TO SHAKESPEARE'S MOTHER 
\X/^HAT strong, august appeal did thy son hear, 
When 'neath thy heart his own throbbed 
peacefully; 
Or what proud vision could'st thou bid him see, 
What flame-winged message carry to his ear? 
Did God Himself to the unborn appear 

And whisper even then to him, through thee, 
Teaching thy heart thy child's sublimity. 
While angels sang 'Earth's Poet and Earth's Seer'? 

Or was thy thought so full of coming joy 

That, passion crowned, it held thee in its sway, 

And poured the bliss of Heaven without alloy, 
And led thee to the courts where angels pray, 

Till there the King of kings looked down and 
smiled, 

And thus placed His own seal upon thy child? 



124 



ANTIGONE 

YI^/HAT lofty purpose held thee, holy maid, 

Thou signal witness of ennobling thought, 
What mighty semblance of the Godhead wrought 

Its way into thy heart, and on it laid 

Such tribute to itself as few have paid? 
Can such self-sacrifice as thine be taught. 
Or does it still elude if it be sought, 

Keeping itself in unseen garb arrayed? 

Ah, faithful woman's heart ! it is with thee 
In every place this garb of light to wear. 
Though only one has found the Poet rare 

Who can interpret well its majesty. 

Yet, thought sublime ! that one thus glorified 

Proves e'en the lowliest unto her allied 



CLEOPATRA 

A SPIRIT of life made but to hold the eye, 
The asp in lips unseen by lustful heart ; 
Of all the "sensuous infinite" a part. 
The dull world in its absence is a sty 
To him who in its waiting arms would die. 
Its costly festival hath power to start 
The passion ending in envenomed dart ; 
Its glittering fabric woven from a lie. 

With her sits Pleasure, throned as a queen, 

Men move before her with fresh roses crowned,. 
Their bodies dancing to lascivious sound. 

When lo ! Day brings one swift transforming 
scene ; 

Armed are they now, and with expiring breath, 

Salute their mistress in the name of Death. 



125 



VIRGILIA AWAITING CORIOLANUS 

Y\/'HERE antique windows win the rising sun 
With chastened ray, that lingers as it falls, 
Listening perchance to chorus that enthralls. 

Music with music from the silence won. 

She sits, whose thoughts and hopes outrun 

All suns ; whose presence within household walls 
Like holy thought the place of prayer recalls, 

Or some new glory in the soul begun. 

Silent she is, waiting her lord with light 

That never fades, — the love-lit patience of her 
eyes 
Should in this hour draw angels from the skies ! 
Did he forget this in his starless night ? 
Nay ! Rather when the sword-thrust laid him low 
His great heart broke remembering her woe. 

OTHELLO 
Co much was thine at last, O noble Moor, 

So rich the gift thy sword of anguish won. 
In that brief hour when all life seemed undone. 
When Honor's self was strained and insecure, 
Love's inner shrine deflowered and impure, 
When passion honest counsel could outrun, 
And heedless folly knew not how to shun 
The fatal voice that could to hell allure ! 

For one brief moment is the rescue found. 
The Faith assailed is clarified at last, 

(The dead so near, perchance, may share its 
bliss) 
And though so fleeting all its swift rebound. 
But one small gleam, it brings the living past, 
And thou canst die, with love, upon a kiss. 

126 



o 



THE SERAPH'S SONG 

At the birth of Shakespeare. 

EARTH! a son to thee is born, thine own, 
Thine own forever, and forever dear; 

To him shall heart of every man appear 
As though he made it; yea, and all earth's moan, 
The mournful sounding of its undertone. 

He shall repeat in living cadence clear. 

Unbar the gates of death, and without fear 
Bid dead awake to make them better known; 

See life in its supremest good and ill. 

Know joy, and all the mystery that still 

Unanswered spins its subtle web, and leaves 

To other times the garnering of sheaves; 

See the majestic glory of the soul, 

And prove the crowning splendor of the whole. 

HAMLET 

COMETHING, O Hamlet, of thy sad unrest 

Is found deep hidden in each human heart. 
Heedful or heedless of some ghost's behest. 

Each soul must struggle on, alone, apart. 
One faithful friend, Horatio-like, may yearn 

To walk beside, to comfort, to sustain. 
Alas ! alas ! how early we discern 

No human power can help our doubt or pain. 

Alone each walks, though all the world be near, 
The fawning Guildensterns on every hand; 

Ophelias proving but an added fear; 

Alone we hear life's gravely stern command; 

While still across one dark and soundless sea 

We hear the awesome voice, ' Remember me ! ' 



127 



BRUTUS BEFORE LUCIUS 

(In Julius Casar) 

A YOUTH at rest! The pressure of the night 
On beating heart, on weary lids and brain, 
The silent instrument, the broken strain, 
The ghost of Caesar passing into sight. 
The wakeful master, tender in his might, 

Will, not disturb where sleep her hand hath lain, 
Though the same hand in strength will not re- 
frain 
The dagger's plunge, when used to serve the Right. 

O noble soul, to whom all men were true, 

Whom Portia loved and in whom thou wert 
strong, 

Philippi brought its own defeat to you. 

Yet nature sings for thee the victor's song; 

In its fine strain no note brings deeper joy 

Than thy respect for one fair sleeping boy. 

FALSTAFF 
\^/'E look upon Olympus, crowned with mirth. 
Hear bacchanalian revellers laugh aloud, 
Beholding mortals with their life endowed, 
A demi-god whom some unlooked-for birth 
Burdened with flesh and blood and placed on earth; 
They whisper Jove the mystery allowed 
When nymph of Laughter to Apollo bowed. 
Since when her happy music knows no dearth. 

Not less have we the man's infirmities. 
But when the "follies " can no longer please. 
Honor, not "nothingness," will re-create 
The heart now "fracted and corroborate;" 
In dying, find the old remembered balm, 
The broken sentence of the favorite psalm. 

128 



MAY 13 1904 






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